Unstoppable is a story of a little train that could... run very fast out of control, endanger the lives around it and seemingly not be able to stop. The story inspired by the real life event of 2001 where a train did exactly the same thing is heightened to an extreme level thanks to veteran action director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Man on Fire) and his cast; Denzel Washington (Malcolm X, The Book of Eli), Chris Pine (Star Trek, Carriers) and Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Seven Pounds).
The story of the man on his last days of retirement and the young, eager rookie looking to make a fresh start is a tried and tested story and somewhat cliché but it certainly never stops Tony Scott as that's just what we have here. Frank (Washington) is supervising Will (Pine) in the rail yard he has worked in for 28 years, they both have their issues (probably Will more than Frank) but as they journey along and as the journey gets faster the pair start to bond, as you do.
Meanwhile Connie (Dawson) is trying to deal with the bureaucrats, get the train to slow down and make sure the train (which is carrying dangerous chemicals) doesn't cause an accident and endanger the lives of thousands, all in a day's work.
You can always trust Tony Scott to make a mountain out of a molehill, all in the name of entertainment and Unstoppable is no exception. In the past however, there's generally been a bad guy to fight or a heightening of the excitement. Bearing in mind that this is based on a true story, and one so recent as well I couldn't help think how the news footage in real life would have been, well, somewhat underwhelming. Tony Scott ignores all this and takes on the train as the worst thing to happen to Western civilisation. There are schoolchildren in danger, old seasoned train drivers and even a horse nearly gets it in an accident that couldn't have been less staged if it tried.
There is a lot of accuracy in this story, upon doing research after seeing the movie, bar a few minor details adjusted for dramatic licence, but this can be forgiven. However accuracy doesn't always make an entertaining movie. The story of a train speeding in a seemingly 'unstoppable' way (see what I did there?) may seem dramatic enough but the reality is rather dull when you think that the story can be portrayed in so many ways (I vaguely remember an episode from Thomas The Tank Engine where one of the trains did something similar). Tony Scott relies on loud music that increases in pace and volume as the excitement supposedly increases. Also there are a lot of news reports that illustrate (sometimes literally) why the train is so dangerous and covers the story from many angles, as they so often do, to try to keep the audience interested. However unless you're watching the story unfold live as it happens then the story feels a little flat and the lack of a particular bad guy (apart from the corporate big wigs) and a reason for the little guys on a mission, other than being a few days from retirement seems very familiar to those interested in the action genre.
Also if you really want to know what happens in the movie without paying to watch it you can look up the news reports on Youtube which sum it all up in 90 seconds.
by Joel Fisher
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