Belated Movie Review: Unstoppable

Release Date: November 12, 2010

Not all movies have to be thought provoking, revolutionize a new technique, or give us new twists on character archetypes. Sometimes we've seen it all before and in cases like this, it's the execution that matters, which brings us to Unstoppable.

The film is about a train that is...well, unstoppable. A train becomes out of control after a series of human errors and ends up on a collision course with school kids, other trains, and populated areas while carrying a toxic material. It's up to Detective Alonzo Harris and Captain Kirk to save the day. I was vaguely reminded of another movie about a form of mass transportation run amok. I think it was called The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down, but I could be wrong.

Besides the concept, the film is filled with familiar tropes: greedy corporations that won't do the responsible thing, tension between generations as long time employees are threatened by a new kid on the block, estranged families whose relationships are restored in times in crisis, and the old standby of grave danger just as one character is about to retire. Heck, even the two lead actors revisit previous roles: Denzel Washington's character finds himself overseeing a coworker's first day on the job while Chris Pine's is unexpectedly thrust into a role bigger than anticipated.

Despite this, the film is tightly constructed and has high production values. It wastes no time in setting up the plot. From there, it's all action sequences, with exposition smack in the middle of them. Some dialog scenes felt like this:

"Tell me about your family."
"Hang on, let me do this thing that may kill us both."
* Executes highly dangerous maneuver *
"I haven't seen my family in a month, due to regrettable actions I did."
* Move on to next set piece *

The editing can be frenetic: shots rarely last longer than a handful of seconds and flip constantly between trains, a sort of mission control of the train company, and the train company's HQ. While in most films, this can get annoying, Unstoppable makes it work. The jumping back and forth ratchets up the tension, which is the film's strongest asset.

Unstoppable takes what is essentially a two-hour chase scene and keeps it from becoming monotonous. The effects are impressive, and it's intense ride from start to finish. The acting does enough to support the story without getting in the way of things. The film doesn't add anything new to action movies, but it doesn't pretend to be do so either. It hits all of its elements so well, it serves as a prime example of paint-by-numbers done right. Highly recommended.