Review: Unstoppable (12A)***

Tony Scott directs, Denzel Washington and Chris (Star Trek) Pine are the human stars, but the big draw is a half-mile-long locomotive and cars filled with a toxic chemical. The problem is a simple one: stop the train before it derails in blue-collar Nowhereville, USA.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Nov 2010, 11:26 BST
Updated 26th Nov 2010, 11:26 BST

Unstoppable is a simple drama – loosely based on a true story –delivered with a lot of style, making Scott's latest adventure a timeless nerve-shredding rollercoaster ride. Washington is the experienced old hand; Pine the rookie. It's painting-by-numbers stuff enlivened by the fact that it has its roots in reality.

Scott is smart enough to avoid lazy action set pieces and so there are precious few on screen. However, their complexities are handled with effortless ease, and the sight of a would-be hero hanging perilously from a helicopter as it and another fly at close range above the train is mouth-watering in its authenticity.

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The narrative is made palpable by the constant presence of faux TV news footage. Thus Scott gives his story a real-time atmosphere, intercutting with Washington and Pine as they ponder how to stop this speeding behemoth from becoming their final journey and destination.

"We're not talking about a train here," says railroad manager Rosario Dawson. "We're talking about a missile the size of the Chrysler Building." That's about as macho as the script gets, but it's the spunky gal who gets the glory of the words, not the boys on the train.

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