Tony Scott brings us a thrilling train ride which pulls him out of a string of less than memorable efforts. His last film, The Taking of Pelham 123, was met with negative reviews across the board… and oddly enough also starred Denzyl Washington. One would wonder why, with a cinematic failure like Pelham, would Washington jump back on a train with Scott.

Unstoppable, a 20th Century Fox drama about a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals. Pits an engineer and his conductor in a race against time. They’re chasing the runaway train in a separate locomotive and need to bring it under control before it derails on a curve and causes a toxic spill that will decimate a town.

Both Chris Pine(Star Trek) and Denzyl Washington deliver comfortable performances, which are only suffered by the script. Some corny lines and the constant need to hold the viewers hand keep Unstoppable from being a great flic. Rosario Dawson (Percy Jackson) puts in an equally good performance given the material. Some of the suporting cast were also fun with Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl) and T.J. Miller (She’s Out Of My League) showing some good chemistry with their limited screen time.

The badly cut trailer really didn’t do the film any favors, but in the end Unstoppable is a fun popcorn flic that just happened to miss the summer, where it just might have fared better. The pacing is pretty good, but unfortunately it does suffer as Scott feels the need to constantly explain more about the character’s backgrounds. An example would be Wahington and Pine are barrelling down a track trying to catch a runaway train. Washington turns to Pine and says… “Tell me about your life… we’ve got time” (or something like that. It’s little things like that that broke the film’s stride. Personally I love old school Tony Scott. I grew up on some of his best work. Unstoppable may not be the train wreck that Pellham was, but Scott can do better… and has done better!

Unstoppable is a fun film. It will get you on the edge of your seat for some of its nail biting sequences, but the overall packege is generally lacking. Is it worth the price of admission… I think so. If you turn off your brain for a couple of hours, there’s some fun to be had.

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