Movie Review: Unstoppable (2010)
It is very dumb, but I'll admit I was entertained
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Tony Scott's runaway train thriller, Unstoppable, is the closest thing to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2010 has had to offer. Granted, it's not as overtly loud and bombastic, but it's certainly as dumb. I guess the difference here is Scott never seems to take things too seriously and Denzel Washington, a Tony Scott regular, brings legitimacy to most any film, no matter how dumb it is. However, don't go looking for anything more than the trailer is selling you. A train is going fast and it needs to be stopped or bad things will happen, and that's pretty much what you get.
Using the differences between an old school train engineer (Washington) and a new-to-the-game conductor (Chris Pine) to bring a level of humanity to the film, I'll admit Scott and screenwriter Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard) squeezed every ounce of life they could out of this feature, which was loosely inspired by a true story.
The cast includes Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn, T.J. Miller, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Corrigan and David Warshofsky. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Unstoppable" is a 20th Century Fox release, directed by Tony Scott and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and peril, and some language. The running time is 1 hour 38 minutes.
Topping out around 75 miles per hour or so, the train in Unstoppable is just that. It rolls through whatever you put in its way and if the sheer size and speed of the train isn't enough, it's packed with lethal chemicals (that part actually is true). This setup follows the folks in the control room as they try to get a handle on things while the lead characters are unknowingly right in the monster's path. The process allows us to get some idea of who the characters are, what their motivations are and why they'd be willing to help. On top of that, there's always the big bad corporate America angle to think of as the costs to derail this sucker would be huge.
Rosario Dawson plays the local point person, relaying her messages back to corporate where Kevin Dunn (Transformers: Rise of the Fallen) plays the ultimate evil, the head of the corporation that stands to lose millions should worse come to worst. Ethan Suplee ("My Name is Earl") seems to have finally been officially typecast, this time playing the dunderhead responsible for letting the train loose and Kevin Corrigan plays a rather entertaining train inspector that seems to have all the answers. On a whole, Scott was solid when it came to casting or this could have been… forgive me… a real train wreck.
Yet all is not forgiven, the comparison to Transformers is apt in terms of execution. Scott is known for his kinetic action sequences and jumpy editing, but this film reaches a point where the word "ludicrious" hardly applies. One scene features Pine caught between two rail cars as the doors fly open on one car, sending grain into his face at blistering speeds. Making matters worse, but completely unacknowledged by the film, a news helicopter is only a few feet away from the action, whipping its blades and causing the grain to tornado to a point you can't even see Pine any longer. It creates tension for sure, but Scott fills the screen with so much mayhem, it may as well have been alien robots battling one another. Had the news choppers transformerd into Autobots and the train into a Decepticon I can't say I would've been all that surprised.
As a matter of fact, Scott's love for helicopters in this madness is akin to Christopher Walken's need for more cowbell. They're everywhere, and he just can't seem to get enough. Plus he offers up an image of Hooters that's like none I've ever seen, unless Hooters is now a chain of hip-hop clubs originating in Stanton, Pennsylvania. It's plain silliness, and I laughed a lot and had a good time, but to call it a good movie is stepping over the boundary. The question is just how do you grade something you enjoyed, but at the same time acknowledge as trash worth only a one-time viewing?
Where Scott's film ultimately wins out is he knows when to say when. Unstoppable clocks in at an hour and 38 minutes, and it would've been even better had he snipped 20 minutes more. Scott also seems to realize Unstoppable, and everything about it, is dumb. He counts on Denzel to bring the milk home, just as he did in Deja Vu, and Denzel delivers (even if I couldn't get Jay Pharoah's impression out of my head). Pine is serviceable and the rest of the cast works hard to sell what amounts to blockbuster junk. Yet, I was entertained on one level or another and that's what we show up to the cinema for… Right?
Links from Other Sites You May Like
Showing 11 Comments
~ PLEASE NOTE ~
If, in any way, your comment is an attack on the author of this post or a previous commenter, your comment will be deleted without question.
Add a New Comment |
Click to Read Our Commenting Rules & Guidelines
I can't believe this has 90% on rotten tomatoes… Very unexpected.
My local reviewer said the same thing giving it 3 stars. Been a couple months since I went to a movie, due to nothing that excites me, so maybe I will go. Plus, from the KC Star…
"Local critics screened “Unstoppable” at AMC’s Mainstreet theater, where all the seats are outfitted with vibrating motors that respond to low-frequency noises on the movie’s soundtrack.
With all the rumbling, rattling and roaring in this picture, it was like being strapped on top of a washing machine for the world’s longest spin cycle."
That's a horrible idea. Who the fuck, other than a couple of 14-year-olds filled with teenage angst, would want a vibrating chair at the movies?
I might catch it. But it also doesn't scream 'must see' to me.
poor review
To answer the question at the end of your article…yes. That is what most people want. The average movie-goer does not expect perfection from every movie he or she goes to see, and they don't let it ruin their experience of going to the cinema. That's why I'm glad it's not my job to be a movie reviewer.
Much better movie than Brad Brevet gives it credit for.
this site is always a little too critical of films
I wanna barf. Sixteen on the railroad and this officially makes me sick. We're not a bunch of nitwits that casually let train-bombs fly through little towns full of kiddies unaided by human or mechanical controls. Inspired by a true story. So does that mean it has to be inspired science-fiction?
This stuff sucks. Leave the damn railroad along and stick to Camaros that turn into giant robots.
TRANSFORMERS 2? DID YOU JUST COMPARE THIS TO TRANSFORMERS 2????!!!!
Haha, yeah this movie was pretty ridiculous but I wouldn't compare it to Transformers 2. It's shorter and not anywhere as crude as that film was. It's also got better talent involved.
But yeah, a movie worth seeing once for mindless entertainment. Reminded me a lot of Denzel and Tony Scott's previous train movie, Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.