Unstoppable

Stop. Please. I liked Speed because of the action, the fact that the process was unknown, and the quirky relationship that developed between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. In Unstoppable, we have the potential for action and drama and have a strong leading man to hold it all together. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Denzel has a nice smile, but doesn't really hold anything together. The entire story is too plain and doesn't draw you in. A train (full of toxic chemicals by the way) is set on full throttle and hurtling toward Stanton PA without anyone on board. The crazy attempts to stop it don't work, even though they aren't that crazy and are really poorly executed. For example, an attempt to drop a conductor on the engine via helicopter doesn't work because the helicopter must lower a man down via 100 foot cable at high speed. But throughout the film, news helicopters are continuously swarming within 10 feet of the engine without difficulty. Are the news pilots just that much better? It is this example of manufactured drama that is so manufactured that there is no drama which kills any possibility that this will be a good film. In the end, the train gets stopped in the nick of time by Denzel. Sorry if I ruined it for you.

1 star (out of 5)