Having a quick look through the new releases of last week I noticed this new film directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington. Being a fan of the Scott brother’s work I thought why not? I went to watch Unstoppable despite the fact that it’s simply a glorified tale of an unmanned freight train... Surprisingly, I became engrossed.

The film follows the story of a runaway train after a gormless fat train driver let’s his rolling stock run away from him. Lo and behold, region controller Connie (Rosario Dawson) soon realises that the train contains more than several cars of a highly combustible toxic chemical that could cause catastrophe for any one of nearby towns. Connie jumps into action. After a failed strategy implemented by the predictably incompetent corporate overseers, it becomes apparent that the only hope to avoid disaster is an unlikely pair of underdogs at work on the line. The heroes on rail track, we meet Washington cast as Frank the retiring expert train man and Will, played by Chris Pine (Star Trek), set to be Frank’s replacement. The pair work well together and the predictable master/pupil relationship plays out effectively. Pine is the typical cocky greenhorn and Washington teaches him a few valuable lessons allowing their relationship to develop on screen. The dynamic of the duo works well enough that we start to actually care as the action heats up and they put themselves on the line in a heroic bid to save the masses. We learn that Frank is a widower to a wife he loved and his daughters are working their way through college as cocktail waitresses. Will has a story of similar gravity, he is currently under a restraining order from seeing both his wife and kid. It appears they each have something to prove and someone out there to prove it to.

While the story is supposed to be based on true events and this lends the film a certain meaning that would be absent otherwise, Unstoppable is still a relatively trashy blockbuster. That said it’s very watchable and as I said earlier, I became surprisingly involved. It’s a story very much akin to Speed yet swap the bus with a train and take out the hijacker. What gives it the edge is a combination of Scott’s trademark flashy direction and the typical strong star persona of Washington. Those strikingly fluid, fast cut action sequences and the dependable show that Washington puts on are justifiably rich and rewarding. This is half the reason I went to see the film in the first place. Just to see if Scott and Washington could pull off this cheesy action suspense spectacle. Despite the atypical subject matter and some of the scenes bordering on the ridiculous, they manage it with style and flair only capable of the Hollywood veteran title holders that they are.

Well executed blockbuster fun with an end sequence about as cringeworthy as they come, if you feel like a bit of relatively mindless action and excitement done right, go see Unstoppable.

8/10