If ever there was a list for appropriately titled movies, Unstoppable should be in the top five. Having now viewed this film in all its rays of blu and sounds of surround, I came away learning something about myself: my fear of the inevitable zombie apocalypse is NOTHING compared to my new-found fear of runaway freight trains. Those things now, officially, scare the living shit out of me. Tony Scott (The Taking of Pelham 123, Enemy of the State) has done what, lately, so few directors of action films have been able to; make a tense, smart, edge-of-your-seat thriller that relies more on the story and characters than on the number of perfectly framed sub-atomic explosions and clever quips from the lead actor. This is a great thrill ride.
Denzel Washington returns to work with Scott for a fifth time, playing the role of a jaded, 28 year railroad veteran. Chris Pine (Star Trek, Bottle Shock) portrays the new guy to the railroad, also carrying some personal baggage. The two play off each other well, and the addition of Rosario Dawson (Clerks 2, Sin City) creates an on-screen team that you believe is in the middle of this disaster. The real scene-stealer in this movie, though, is the runaway train itself. Scott uses every trick he knows to make this train a living, breathing, freaking nightmare. The sounds that were used in bringing this train to "life" were, in themselves, terrifying in conveying the sheer power, speed, and destruction that this behemoth was bringing down the tracks.
The tension in this movie builds like the momentum of the train you are watching; never letting you out of its grip until the final moments. I cannot believe I am saying this, but I caught myself holding my breath at times and WAS on the edge of my seat for most of this film (only at the end did I notice this). If you take anything away from this review, take this: you will have a blast watching this one, put it on your queue now or just go buy it! 9/10.
Tomorrow's movie: Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks in: The Next Three Days. See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!! ,
No comments:
Post a Comment