Directed by TONY SCOTT
Starring DENZEL WASHINGTON, CHRIS PINE, and ROSARIO DAWSON
'Unstoppable' was good, not great, but good. Certainly not worth $9 at the theater good, but worth at least a few bucks. The buildup, the tension, and the action sequences were good, however, the personal back story--not so much.
Trailer
This movie, like many before it, continues the overdone and extra crispy hollywood cliche of the heroic, yet misunderstood father who has recently separated from his witchy wife. Lo and behold, the wife soon realizes the error of her ways and reunites with her now heroic husband. This time it's Chris Pine's turn. Think Die Hard, Black Rain, Independence Day, The Last Boyscout, or most recently, Ocean's Eleven, Minority Report, Vacancy, 30 Days of Night, and 2012. But alas, no fork will be stuck in this dried up cliched steak. Moving on, the backstory with Denzel's character was fine-- the old veteran being displaced for a young whipper snapper. That too reeks of formula, but it was tolerable. Again, the effects, the train, and the performances were all good.
Plot: Veteran railroad engineer, Frank Barners (Denzel Washington) and new conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) report to work for one heck of a train ride. Think Training Day on a train, except Denzel isn't playing a crazed sociopath. Nope, this time the bad guys are almost exclusively limited to the boardroom. Meanwhile, in a galaxy (rail yard) far away, a hapless railroad employee played by (Ethan Suplee), known to most audiences from My Name is Earl, plays yet another hapless character, who accidentally releases a freight train with no brakes on a collision path with a train full of school children. Ooops. At this point, yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) gets involved. To my surprise, even in this non-meaty role, Rosario shows off her chops. It's difficult playing a well-adjusted, non-neurotic person, but she does it well. She even manages to deliver a few lines with extra umph.
After a series of mishaps and failed attempts to slow the train down, this is when our heroes get involved and attempt to intercept the train. Any thinking person can guess what happens next, but it sure is a fun ride.
THREE OUT OF FIVE STARSPlot: Veteran railroad engineer, Frank Barners (Denzel Washington) and new conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) report to work for one heck of a train ride. Think Training Day on a train, except Denzel isn't playing a crazed sociopath. Nope, this time the bad guys are almost exclusively limited to the boardroom. Meanwhile, in a galaxy (rail yard) far away, a hapless railroad employee played by (Ethan Suplee), known to most audiences from My Name is Earl, plays yet another hapless character, who accidentally releases a freight train with no brakes on a collision path with a train full of school children. Ooops. At this point, yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) gets involved. To my surprise, even in this non-meaty role, Rosario shows off her chops. It's difficult playing a well-adjusted, non-neurotic person, but she does it well. She even manages to deliver a few lines with extra umph.
After a series of mishaps and failed attempts to slow the train down, this is when our heroes get involved and attempt to intercept the train. Any thinking person can guess what happens next, but it sure is a fun ride.
I liked this movie. I agree they went to the "trying to call the ex-wife" scene one too many times.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, there are no real surprises in the action, but for whatever reason it kept me entertained and in my seat.