Some years back, I was driving along a road that was beside a
railroad track when I saw a large group of people--most of them with cameras--all
standing on the grass and staring at something. On the tracks was an old locomotive,
a black, steam-powered dinosaur from the 1930s, that was pulling a line of
passenger cars behind it. I wondered if there had been an accident, but, since I
was busy, I couldn’t stop for a better look. When I returned home, I took the
same route back, and sure enough, the crowd, along with the vintage locomotive,
were still there. I then realized that this wasn’t an accident--instead it was a
gathering of train buffs who had assembled to appreciate a piece of rolling
history in their midst.
I get the feeling that die-hard train buffs will enjoy Unstoppable, which stars
the equally unstoppable Denzel Washington as a train engineer. Chris Pine,
Captain Kirk himself from the recent Star Trek reboot, co-stars as his partner,
the newly minted conductor of their freight train who’s struggling through a bad
separation with his young wife. At first, the two men don’t appear to be getting
along very well--they fight more than they talk. But they soon bond very quickly
once they come face to face with a runaway train. It’s not their own train, but
another one--named 777 (or triple seven)--that managed to get loose from its
handlers at a train yard.
The characters that Washington and Pine play soon find out that they’re on the
same track as the runaway, and are headed for a collision course. And then the
real fun begins. Washington re-teams with his Crimson Tide director Tony Scott
(brother of Ridley) for Unstoppable, which is loosely based on a true story
about a runaway train and the frantic efforts to stop it. When it comes to action,
Tony Scott is a visceral old pro who manages to wrangle the most drama and
suspense from a scene. For instance, it’s not enough that the triple seven is a
runaway freight train, but she’s also carrying deadly chemicals that won’t react
very well to an explosion.
But even if you’re not a big train buff (which I’m not), this film is still very
enjoyable and gripping to watch. Both Washington and Pine are very good
in their roles--as is Roxerio Dawson, who plays a knowledgeable train yard boss.
Scott keeps the dynamic
action flowing at a lightning pace throughout the film, and while he keeps the
overall gritty tone of his story as realistic as possible, there are still some
Hollywood flourishes here and there which can still be forgiven. Unstoppable is
just a fun popcorn film that’s enhanced with far more sophisticated storytelling
than the typical B-movie action flick.
--SF
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