'Unstoppable' review

Chris Pine (Credit: Robert Zuckerman/20th Century Fox)

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Train conductors Frank (Denzel Washington) and Will (Chris Pine) are moving down the rural Pennsylvania rails at full speed when they get the call: A runaway freight train, carrying hazardous and explosive materials, is also rumbling down the tracks—straight towards them. Now experienced rail veteran Frank and newbie Will must evade obliteration before hatching a plan to chase the rogue runaway and slow it before it derails.

The buzz: Promoted relentlessly across NFL games and the World Series, Twentieth Century Fox is betting on “Unstoppable” as a testosterone-laced macho blockbuster—a retro thriller based around the basic laws of physics and raw locomotive power. Indeed, the story couldn’t be simpler. It’s about two guys—played by two perfectly selected movie stars—using all the blunt tools at their disposal to save the day.

The verdict: “Unstoppable” abandons the CG silliness of recent sci-fi spectacles to bask in the glory of a man vs. machine duel. Consider for a moment the dozens of ways director Tony Scott (“Top Gun,” “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”) spins and twists the camera to capture the train as a chugging missile, a menacing predator, even a rupturing piece of machinery. He’s in awe of the raw fury of a train hurtling down the tracks at 70 mph. “Unstoppable” is also an ode to working man camaraderie, as Frank and Will bond with each passing mile, the newcomer proving himself to the veteran by sticking it to a company that puts profits above people. When the film’s two trains finally approach one another, with sparks flying off the tracks and the throttle thrown back, “Unstoppable” achieves a level of suspense few movies elicit. Out on the open rails, there is no easy fix. Frank and Will aren’t superheroes or super agents, they’re blue collar champions.

Did you know? Thanks to massive tax incentives, “Unstoppable” floods the screen with authentic Pennsylvania locales. Washington, Pine and the rest of the cast and crew relocated to the Pittsburgh region in August 2009—according to local press reports, it was the largest film shoot to set up shop in the area in over 15 years.

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