Trailer Tuesday: Unstoppable

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It seems like it’s been forever since we’ve been treated to a good ol’ fashioned, A-grade “everyman against the odds” action film. Well, Unstoppable – starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine – looks set to change that. Judging by the trailer, the film delivers the old school, gratifying goods; combining likeable characters, solid performances from big name stars and an utterly ludicrous plot.

Admittedly Unstoppable completely crept up on me, but having watched the film’s trailer for the first time 2 weeks ago, the movie immediately rocketed to the front of my “must watch in the near future” list... largely because it looks like a popcorn flick of the highest pedigree. Speed for the 21st Century!


Loosely based on the real life story of the 2001 Crazy Eights runaway train incident, Unstoppable centres on an unmanned freight train, carrying a cargo of hazardous chemicals, that is barreling towards a heavily populated urban centre. Two very different family men, a veteran railroad engineer (Washington) and a cocky young train conductor (Pine), unite their efforts, and put their lives on the line, to stop this out-of-control behemoth before it's too late. Rosario Dawson rounds out the cast as a train dispatcher trying to manage the impending catastrophe.

It's worth noting that the man behind Unstoppable is action-thriller maestro Tony Scott (director of Top Gun, Enemy of the State and innumerable other blockbusters) who here reteams with leading man Washington for the fifth time - after Crimson Tide, Man on Fire, Deja Vu and that other recent train movie The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.


Of course, while Scott has a reputation for delivering the thrills, he has in recent years become obviously obsessed with swirling, over-edited aerial shots (See Enemy of the State for the most famous example). It's a gimmicky, frenetic approach that I'm personally sick of, because more often than not it ruins the action scene instead of enhancing it. And unfortunately, according to some early reviews of Unstoppable, Scott can't resist wallowing in this stylish but motion sickness-inducing style of camera work yet again. Hmph.

I guess we'll see for ourselves very soon though whether Scott's trademark cinematography sinks the apparently excellent work of Washington and Pine. Washington always delivers but it's Pine who is proving to be a surprise - with his Star Trek work and, now, Unstoppable, he seems to be entrenching himself in the "pretty boy who can act" category, with the likes of Brad Pitt, as opposed to taking a place alongside guys like, say, Paul Walker.

Unstoppable opens in the United States, and South Africa, this Friday, 12 November.

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