'Unstoppable' Movie Review

Denzel Washington reunites with director Tony Scott for Unstoppable, their fifth film together and second movie about a runaway train. Following on the heels of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Unstoppable finds Washington once again being the man who has to save the day. Washington's great at playing a guy who can keep his cool when all around him are losing theirs. And the fact he does this so well - and can still handle some pretty dangerous-looking action scenes - is one of the main reasons Unstoppable is so entertaining. Add in the fact the premise fits perfectly within Tony Scott's style of directing and Unstoppable's better than you'd expect from the trailers. It's actually a great popcorn film, a real seat-gripping, adrenaline rush of a movie.

Hitting theaters in the fall is a pretty smart marketing move as anyone looking for pure escapist fare will likely pick Unstoppable as their film of choice. The competition isn't as tough as it would have been had Unstoppable been released during the summer, though the film is the type of fare normally served up during summer months when pure escapist pics are the most popular. That said, Hollywood has been moving more comedies into the last few months of the year, and adding an action film into the fall/winter schedule isn't totally unheard of.

The Story

Unstoppable was inspired by a true story, with the real events of 2001 concerning a train cruising down the tracks with no one at the wheel embellished upon in order to make the story both more suspenseful and cinematic. Washington stars as veteran engineer Frank Barnes, a no-nonsense train man serving out the last few days of his employment after being pink-slipped. On this particular day he's teamed up with trainee Will Colson (Chris Pine), a brash young man who Frank believes only got the job because he's related to someone higher up in the company. The two do not hit it off, and it appears they're going to be in for a long day. And after Will makes a mistake in the number of cars he's hooked up to the engine, Frank's just about ready to kick the new kid off his train.

However, a situation arises that will demand the two work together under the most dire of circumstances. An unmanned train is barreling down the tracks loaded with toxic material and heading for a town full of innocent people. If the train reaches a hairpin turn on a raised bridge at a high rate of speed, it'll be sent flying off the tracks like a missile. That could cause a substantial amount of deaths. Bigwigs in the company have a couple of plans for stopping the train, but Frank and his contact back at the yard, yardmaster Connie Hopper (Rosario Dawson), don't believe the company executive in charge (Kevin Dunn) knows his head from a hole in the ground.

So Frank and Will decide to put aside their differences for the good of all those innocent citizens in the path of the runaway locomotive and, with the support of Connie and a federal safety inspector (Kevin Corrigan) who just happens to be with Connie on this fateful day, go against the corporate honcho orders and strike out on their own. Will and Frank put their lives on the line in a desperate attempt to stop the 'unstoppable' train.

The Bottom Line

Washington and Pine make for an impressive onscreen team, and they each give Scott and the audience exactly what's needed in order to get behind these characters as they risk everything to keep strangers safe. We get to know a little about each - Washington's Frank has two beautiful daughters who work at Hooters that he doesn't keep in contact with as much as he should. Pine's Will has anger issues and is separated from his wife after she left him for falsely accusing her of having an affair. More than that we don't need to know because this isn't the story of Frank and Will. It's the story of an unmanned train ready to spill its toxic load and Scott, once the train begins rolling on its own, never lets the audience forget that. Scott makes the runaway train into a living, breathing character, a wild beast bearing down on a defenseless small town. And even though you think you know going in what's going to ultimately happen, the beast is so imposing a character you think, despite all logic, that it could emerge the victor in this life-or-death battle.

Unstoppable is a roller coaster thrill ride that will have your adrenaline pumping for the entire second half of its swift running time. You don't have to be into trains - or even be a big action movie geek - to want to hitch a ride on Unstoppable.

GRADE: B

Unstoppable was directed by Tony Scott and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language.

Theatrical Release: November 12, 2010

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