À fond de train

Mark Bomback's writing was outstanding in using his 98 min runtime to squeeze in the perfect amount of character development, tension, suspense, and action. All casting and performances were excellent and Denzel and Chris Pine's chemistry was spot on. The S/VFX were amazing, as was the score. My big issue was the annoying and seizure-inducing fast zoom-in/outs director Tony Scott chose to use. Thankfully they became less frequent as the film progressed. It' an 8/10 from me.

This film is about the attempts to stop an unmanned train full of dangerous chemicals travelling at high speed, endangering the lives of thousands of people living along the tracks.

"Unstoppable" gets right to the point, action already starts ten minutes into the film. After that, the thrills get better and better. As a result, the film keeps you glued to the screen with increasing intensity.

Early on in the film, I wondered if there was enough to fill the screen time, but there was actually enough to make it action packed, without slow, pacing scenes to interrupt the action. "Unstoppable" is a good action film, relatively free from blood and violence which is rather rare for an action film these days.

In Pennsylvania, one engineer is maneuvering a train in the yard and accidentally leaves the train operating without the pneumatic brakes engaged. The operation department initially believes it is a coaster but soon the operators realize that the unmanned train is running on full power. Further, it is carrying dangerous chemicals and diesel in the cargo wagons. There are many unsuccessful attempts to stop the runaway train and the veteran engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and the young conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) decide to take the chance to reduce the speed of the train with the most unlikely operation.

The farewell of the brilliant director Tony Scott is a thriller with non- stop action inspired in a true event in Ohio. The screenplay is engaging and the dramatization is adequate to the story. The great cast with Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson completes this excellent entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Incontrolável" ("Uncontrollable")

Even though I did not care whatsoever for the fates of any of the stick-figure characters that populate Tony Scott's new movie "Unstoppable" and despite the fact that I still have some qualms with his directing style, I must confess that this new runaway-train movie won me over. It works on the principles of late afternoon escapism and it's quite efficient as a nail-biter. Kicking off to big bursts of kinetic action almost right from the beginning and lasting for a taut ninety-eight minutes, it proved itself as one of the more wholesomely entertaining action movies I've seen in the last half of the year.

The movie is based (loosely) on the CSX 8888 incident of 2001, in which a freight train ran amok and unmanned across the state of Ohio for two hours. Here the setting is switched to Pennsylvania and it's running at such high speeds that it threatens to destroy Stanton should it derail itself on an elevated railway and smash its toxic cargo. Of course, for the conventions of the action/escapism movie plot, we've got two troubled heroes who are just going through the motions of their not-so-happy lives when they assume the Superman personality and race against time to stop the train.

The train is the real star of the movie. More interesting than the people trying to control it. Director Tony Scott gives us several impressive and creative shots of the half-mile-long mechanical monster as it rampages around. Listen carefully to the soundtrack and amongst all the crashes and grinding sounds you'll hear noises reminiscent of the tyrannosaurus in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park." The movie almost seems like a big-budget homage to Spielberg's early-career movie "Duel" in which you had an innocent man being pursued by a giant tractor-trailer.

The characters are modeled after Action Movie 101 Writing stereotypes. You know, the veteran and the rookie. One of them is splitting up with his wife, the other is having a hard time maintaining a relationship with his daughters. You've got the noble yardmaster wanting to save lives and the greedy, vulgarity-spitting corporate executive whose more concerned about how much dough he's lost. And, of course, it takes a major catastrophe in which lives are risked in order to glue everything back together again. And no, morbid as it sounds, I didn't care who lived and who died.

However, *however* the filmmakers are smart enough to play with this to their advantage. They do not waste any more time than they really need to with this flat caricatures and instead devote as much of the brief running time as they can to very gritty action sequences. I must commend Mr. Scott for his ability to coordinate his pyrotechnics crew. Although I still detest his overly extravagant dolly shots and irksome "quick zooms" (in which the camera inches in and out of people for no reason at all) he does hold your attention when letting loose a wave of inertia. The last quarter of the movie is consumed by an enormous, very intense action sequence that develops suspense and nail-biting tension reminiscent of "Back to the Future." Complications are thrown in and as they kept on coming, I gradually discovered myself nervously toying with the zipper of my jacket. He also does a fantastic job of balancing sequences with "Live Television" shots as news cameras record the incident.

"Unstoppable" is not a work of art, but heck, it's not trying to be. Movies are meant to be one of two things: art or escapism. "Unstoppable" is the latter. It achieves exactly what it is targeting: ninety-eight minutes of blood-pumping action, smart-alec dialogue, and a barrel of fun for all who participate. It's more fun (and less painful, for me) than any roller coaster I can remember being on at the fair. On the basis of it being a solid matinée thriller, I liked the movie.

Denzel Washington, as the wise old train veteran, is his usual self: sincere and convincing. Chris Pine is also in fine form as the goodhearted but troubled rookie whom he finds himself both bickering and laughing with. Rosario Dawson, an underrated actress, turns in another strong performance as the yardmaster supervising the disaster. And Kevin Dunn is sinister despite the two-dimensional character he's given to play. Supporting roles are played mechanically but well by Ethan Suplee, Meagan Tandy, Elizabeth Mathis, and Jessy Schram.

P.S., the movie almost shoots itself in the foot at the end, but just ignore that, as everything before it works just fine.

Though this film has a pretty simple and straightforward story, it is still exciting to watch. It does well in establishing the normality of the lives of these railway workers and the rhythm that they work in. Scott does well in setting the tone of the film early on, and with the music accompaniment, the tension slowly rises.

Pine and Washington are good in their roles, and work well together. Perhaps it is because their characters do not get along well, which may be easier to portray. Anyway, their delivery and chemistry with each other fit the film. Dawson does well in roles with a sense of urgency to them. I vaguely remember her being an FBI agent somewhere else, and with this character, she is able to portray how intense a situation they're in.

I especially liked the cinematography and editing in this movie. With a high speed train moving through various landscapes, the numerous wide angle and aerial shots give a good view of the surroundings. The quick jump cuts, and juxtapositions between the various characters on screen also helps to keep the audience well informed.

One thing that I felt was a bit forced, was the family angle. I guess being characters, the filmmakers felt that they needed to incorporate family values, so put that in there. I didn't care much for the drama of Pine's life though. I was intrigued a little at what may have happened, but Pine's character didn't really fit the drama.

Overall, quite an exciting but simple film.