Unstoppable Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Denzel Washington as Frank Barnes

Chris Pine as Will Colson

Rosario Dawson as Connie Hopper

Plot: Lives are at stake when two train conductors must come together to try and stop a train that is going full speed into dangerous territory with no driver.

I may get in trouble for this but, this is my job and I shouldn’t be told how to do it. I signed a non disclosure saying I wouldn’t talk about this movie before it comes out but I think things like this can only enhance the movie.

Unstoppable follows Denzel Washington and Chris pines’ characters as they venture on the jobs of train drivers/conductors. It seems like a nice, easy going type of job but it takes a turn for the worse when I train, no driver, goes on a rampage trying to take down everything it can.

That premise sounds good doesn’t it? If only we had known what the movie was about in the trailers. Problem # 1. The trailer leads you to believe that this free running train is heading for a train filled with kids and Denzel and Pine have to try and stop it. No. It ends up being the premise I brought up in paragraph # 2. Something that could have been brought up to me in the beginning.

Problem # 2. I thought this free running train was caused by maybe someone with bad intent, a terrorist, something bad. No. It ends up being a human error case and boy does this guy mess up. That struck me as just dumbfounded for lack of a better word.

Problem # 3. This town that the story takes place in has some horrible town planners. As the train is speeding through the towns they talk about everything near the tracks, everything in danger. So near the track just so happens to be a elementary school and a power plant. Who puts two important things like that near a damn railroad track?! The school is a pretty bad idea to have near the train tracks but the real problem is the power plant, which the train is headed straight for and would cause a huge problem.

Finally, to end the negativity, the characters aren’t fully explored and developed. Chris Pines’ character looks like he has problems galore but they aren’t explained all that well. We could have gone deeper into his character and why he does what he does. Same goes for Denzels’ character. You saw the cusp of his problems but you don’t see the real emotion behind it all.

On the bright side, the movie does have its audience in suspense for a bit. I would say the last 45 minutes definitely has its suspenseful moments. It’s obviously where all the action takes place and where everything is coming to its conclusion. On the other hand, the first 45 minutes or more ends up being pretty slow, even if it were meant to be that way.

One other plus would have to be the chemistry between Pine and Denzel. It definitely feels like they worked on having a good connection and it showed.

Overall, Unstoppable needs some polishing that it will not get. It seemed way too rushed, awaiting to really get to the action and throwing aside the story. Wait for this on DVD or for it to appear on a television channel.

Rating: 2 out of 5