Film Reviews

Unstoppable

• Rating:
• Director: Tony Scott
• Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson
• Details: US/97mins 12A

Tony Scott has been on a bit of a downer of late, and hasn't made a decent film in several years. Tackling anything to do with trains again after his last film (the dire Taking of Pelham 123) was a brave move that pays off to some degree with another "working class" action film. Admittedly, there's not that much actual action, but this based on a true story blockbuster is a tense ride, if a predictably over-directed one. Scott helms Denzel Washington for the fifth time as he and Chris Pine play two rail workers - one just starting the job, the other nearing his retirement - who have an eventful first day working together. A train carrying large amounts of dangerous chemicals has left the station unmanned, and is essentially "a missile the size of the Chrysler building" heading towards some heavily populated areas. Pine and Washington may be the only guys in a position to stop it from causing serious damage, and taking many lives. Those with an aversion to the incoherent jump cuts that Scott now uses as a trademark, will be glad to hear that he's more restrained with the scissors and bombastic inserts here than his most recent films. He has a reliably charismatic leading man in Washington, who is not afraid to play his age, while they were lucky to get Pine after a star making turn in Star Trek. When they're playing off each other there's definitely a natural chemistry between them, even if Scott never really explores either man with any real purpose. But Pine looks like a movie star and Washington's performance humbly never attempts to upstage his. The film is at its best in the "getting to know you" scenes. When Scott ups the ante and it becomes clear that lives are in danger it begins to move at a faster pace, but it's difficult to make a train, however big, moving along some tracks that interesting. When you've seen it crash into something once, it quickly becomes repetitive, but the two main characters are likeable enough that you want to see them make it out alive and save the day. Rosario Dawson is always a welcome presence in any film, but she's becoming more known for her slight supporting parts lately, and seems to be stuck in a bit of a rut. Everyone else is pretty much a randomer with a headset, air-punching when applicable. It's hard not to get caught up in it all, and it is easily Scott's best film in years. As solid as it is, it just never really captures the kind of excitement or intensity it so desperately courts.

Review by Mike Sheridan