i read a book that i didn’t ever really see myself finding if it weren’t for the film that came out, and guess what – the BOOK was way better!

So, why was the book so much better than the film? i’m going to tell you but first i must warn you, this post WILL contain spoilers (though i won’t give everything away), so if you don’t want that – hop out of this post now and watch the movie/read the book, then come back.

alrighty, let’s get started then. Firstly, what is this story even about? assasins on a train is the easiest way to explain, but let’s go just a little deeper.

The Father/Prince:

A father whose young child is in a coma in hospital boards a train to kill the teenager who was responsible. when he sees his moment, the teenager surprises him and ties him up, instead playing mind games with him the entire trip.

a teenager who’s brain works differently than most, and who has discovered how to manipulate people for the sake of it – just to see what happens. throwing a kid off a roof just because he was annoyed at how the father had ruined his plans to torture a kid by electro shocking his dog in front of him.

this pair has an interesting past and story as it progresses. while the prince was the absolute WORST person aboard this train (and that’s a train full of professional killers), the father managed to let him push him around for the hope that his son would survive the train ride.

their dynamic was…. interesting. while i found it interesting to be inside the mind of a complete psychopath with literally no empathy, remorse or the answer to the question of why it’s wrong to kill, i often found myself frustrated with his POV.

the movie managed to gender swap this role, and have the “prince” not only be a girl, but also related to the big bad – a russian race swap – which i found to be unnecessary. there were a few other characters which easily could have been swapped if they so desired, but i also didn’t think it was necessary full stop.

Ladybug:

My actual favourite character (minus Lemon, but i’ll get to him in a bit). the most unlucky “bad guy” i’ve ever read about but i found myself rooting for him and hoping that above all, he would be the one to make it out of this ridiculous train alive.

only when stuff really hit the fan did this guy zero in and get cat like reflexes. a great adaptor to situations, hilariously just wanting to get off this dang train and hired to steal a suitcase which contained lots of money. Ladybug was a great character who was always trying to call Maria (his handler) and get help, or information.

Fruit:

Lemon and Tangerine. twins, but not twins. a killing team that tried to rescue a mob boss’ son, and were also carrying the briefcase full of money. the briefcase that becomes very popular on board.

Lemon loves Thomas the Tank Engine, and talks about it constantly. he is a brutal killing machine, but has an odd kid like obsession with trains. he was sloppy, but kind of endearing. i liked Lemon a lot.

Tangerine was a bit smarter, and always quoting obscure literary fiction. he was also a brutal killing machine, but had a soft spot for Lemon (though he would never admit that to anyone). these guys try to figure out who killed the boss’ kid, and who stole the briefcase while also trying to stay alive.

The Hornet:

a hardly heard of killer that seems to make their way on board the train and swiftly kill while they’re there. Without giving away too much, there is a limit to what i can really say. i will say though, the movie swapped her out with someone i really disliked. i found the character they chose to make her into was brash, annoying, and just not at all the right choice of change in personality.

The Big Bad:

A mob boss to the extreme. certainly not a white russian in the book, and definitely scary enough without the change. he seems to have a hand in practically everything and is a dangerous person – until this book however.

The Others:

The wolf is another assassin which gets a very short viewing, the man on the train who just seems to be someone you can talk easily to but has a tragedy in his own past – and manages to give a good answer to why it’s bad to kill people, and a few others along the way. they were there, advanced the plot but never felt unnecessary or annoying. just the right amount, just the right interaction.

The book itself was an intricate and delicately weaved story. it spent just enough time with characters to engage you, and connected everything beautifully. there was limited gore, only a handful of cuss words, and majority of the story was really focussed on the inner workings of the characters minds. following psychopaths and crazed killers was actually quite interesting.

The movie on the other hand, seemed to “American-ify” the whole story. it became clunky, cluttered, focussed instead on added and unnecessary gore, loads more cuss words, changed fight scenes for no other reason than i can assume an attempt to have different choreography in those moments. it changed HUGE character arcs (like with Lemon) and also completely changed the ending. not to mention changing the “big bad” into a white Russian stereoptye.

when i compare the two, it becomes clear that even though Brad Pitt was hilarious, and it was cool to see so many celebs cameos and moments that were somewhat interesting (falling out of a moving train and the bullet train crashing was NOT part of the original plot, but it did give a good showing for the visual medium), this was the no winning piece for me.

the book held such beautiful grace and sophistication. even though we were following killers as they basically pick each other off for lots of misunderstandings and greed, it was still a study of how these people thought. how they reacted, how they saw the world, and how the story drew connections that couldn’t be expressed in any other way rather than a book.

have you watched the movie? have you read the book? have you done both like me? share your own thoughts in the comments.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace