Film Review: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine Star in Slick, Entertaining ‘Unstoppable’

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
No votes yet
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “Unstoppable” plays perfectly to Tony Scott’s flashy strengths as a director. There’s no deep meaning or character-driven dialogue for him to clutter up with his style over substance aesthetic. And so the film truly works as a great slice of escapist entertainment as long as you know what to expect.

So what should you expect? Runaway train. Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, and Rosario Dawson trying to stop runaway train. That’s about it. The film not only is short on character, its villain is a giant machine. It’s like “The Taking of Pelham 123” with John Travolta’s character replaced by a locomotive. For those intellectually-discerning viewers looking for something that appeals more to the skills they learned dissecting films in college classes, “Unstoppable” will be like fast food to someone who hasn’t been to McDonald’s in twenty years. But the fact is that sometimes fast food tastes really good. Like a Big Mac, “Unstoppable” may not be that good for you, but it will probably leave a smile on your face.

StarRead Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Unstoppable” in our reviews section.

The story has supposedly been inspired by true events (although it’s not hard to believe that said “true events” just means there was a train that went real fast one day…I think that’s all you need for an “inspired by” credit) and starts when a truly-horrendous pair of train workers (Ethan Suplee & TJ Miller) make a series of mistakes that lead to a gigantic train stocked with toxic chemicals to barrel down a track unmanned, on full throttle, and with no air brakes. Not only do the powers that control these massive machines (including Dawson) have to worry about getting all other trains off the track but they also have a ticking clock in that if the speeding skyscraper gets to a certain curve at its current speed than it will surely derail and take hundreds of lives.

For a surprisingly large portion of “Unstoppable,” Frank (Denzel Washington) and Will (Chris Pine) are secondary characters to the “stop the train” action. We learn a little bit about the two men – Frank has two daughters that work at Hooters and newcomer Will has some relationship issues that have led to legal involvement. Of course, Frank is near the end of his line as a conductor and Will is just beginning. Both men will ultimately be the only thing standing between train disaster and safety and anyone who has ever seen a movie will know how it’s all going to turn out.

StarContinue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Unstoppable” review.

‘Unstoppable’ stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn, and Kevin Corrigan. It was directed by Tony Scott. It opens nationwide on November 12th, 2010. It is rated PG-13.

Unstoppable
Unstoppable
Photo credit: Fox

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
referendum
tracker