Unstoppable

Dir: Tony Scott (The Taking of Pellum 1 2 3, Domino, Man on Fire, Top Gun)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Lew Temple
USA, 2010

Seen: November 13, 2010

Reason to see: Trailer got me interested enough to see it.

A big treat and surprize was what I got with Unstoppable. I was very, very suprized at how much fun I had watching this movie. When I originally saw the trailer I thought it really felt like it was a lot like Taking of Pellum 1 2 3 (the redux) that Tony Scott did about a train with Denzel Washington, because Unstoppable is film about a train, directed by Tony Scott, and it’s got Denzel Washington. But somewhere along the way I realized I actually really like Tony Scott’s visual style. It’s interesting and engaging, giving a strong visual blueprint and overlay to not only what’s happening thematically but also actually by repeating in succession movement, sound and styles in the film. There is always lots going on visually, and I like that.

For the visuals and sound alone I would have enjoyed Unstoppable, a film that is centred on a literally an unmanned runaway train, but then you add the cast and human stories and I was completely sucked in. We follow 2 rail workers Will (Chris Pine) and Frank (Denzel Washington) on a very day-in-the-life of working together, and the chemistry they have sits great in that don’t-really-know-each-other-but-make-the-best-of-it, kind of way and the two of them carry a big piece of the heart of the film. But, not all of it as we get even more great characters with Connie (Rosario Dawson) on the logistical side of things at the office, which is one of the things I loved about the film was how it showed a larger organizational systems at work, or more aptly under pressure – the multitude of possibilities of what could happen depending on different courses of actions and how to make those decisions. Fascinating.

So, you have a crazy situation of the runaway train, plus characters you care about and a unique, engaging visual style with great sounds. It’s a perfectly, exciting film experience and easily one of my happiest surprizes of the year. I went in thinking it would be okay and left loving it. I was curious and engaged along the way to see how it would all unfold, the action was very exciting, the sound was amazing and both Denzel Washington and Chris Pine were amazing. Plus, Lew Temple was absolutely fantastic as the one the road eager to help-out Ned. What a delightful addition to the film.

Who knew that Unstoppable would be the 2010 film with so much wonderful human spirit in it? That really came out of left field, but I’m glad. I guess it just needed some room to build some steam to really get going.

Shannon's Overall View:
I loved it
I can't wait to watch it again
I highly recommend it to action and thriller fans

12 minutes of preshow including 6 previews: Sanctum, I Am Number Four,Battle: Los Angeles, Season of the Witch and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010