Tony Scott phones in another action outing...

“I’ve done the subway train (Pelham 123) now it’s time for the real thing”.

The above tagline is how I imagine Tony Scott pitched his latest film Unstoppable to studio execs. Add in the name Denzel Washington and the dollar signs will have been flashing throughout the 20th Century Fox building, particularly as Fox News Corp get a sizable amount of free publicity into the bargain.

Like all Tony Scott films, this fifth collaboration with Washington is a technically proficient action film about a train carrying explosive chemicals, travelling unmanned at high speed towards a town where there is a bend in the track. The rest of the details you can really fill in for yourself. For instance, there could be an anorexic priest with a twitchy eye, or Abraham Lincoln could be on board that train. In actual fact the Oscar-winning actor plays Frank, a twenty-eight-year veteran engineer who dislikes the way younger and better-looking guys are hired by their uncle to replace him. The antagonist in this is Will, played by Chris Pine, who unsurprisingly has some kind of emotional scar, and whose greenhorn tendencies almost cause the early demise of him and Frank before they have a chance to try and save the day.

As you might expect, there are some truly ridiculous moments, including a marine veteran who tries to land on the roof of the runaway train from a helicopter but has an unfortunate accident, whilst Frank, presumably in his late-forties, is able to leap like Darcey Bussell across the tops of the carriages. There are a few nice lines, usually spoken by Rosario Dawson’s unflappable Connie, whilst the best comedy moments mainly derive from Lew Temple, a regular bit-part actor who plays Ned the drunken, lazy loveable rogue who always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

In terms of the direction there are a few of the usual Tony Scott flourishes, the most common being an under the train shot. There are also regular cutaways to Fox News, as I alluded to, which start by giving a sense of immediacy to the story, but end up as sickening voyeurism as they delight in capturing every dangerous moment.

What is sad about Unstoppable is that Scott seems to be coasting. In fact, it’s almost like he’s showing us that his previous films weren’t a fluke, rather than moving on to tackling something with more guts. There is nothing here that is particularly original or indeed interesting about a train that is going to blow up a town. Scott’s previous efforts usually rely on caricatured baddies with a clear moral degeneration who we despise for their rugged inhumanity. Given that Hurricane Katrina killed ridiculous numbers of people, not to mention the other recent natural or terrorist atrocities that have occurred, the number of deaths potentially caused by this train is unlikely to capture your imagination.

Also, why is it that both of the Scott brothers have determined to become typecast for generic Hollywood action fluff, starring the same lead actor? They should at least try swapping Crowe and Washington around one time just to see if anyone is actually paying attention.

Gripe over with, this is a film that you will enjoy if you’re a fan of Tony Scott or Denzel Washington, but inevitably, like the rest of their collaborations, you will have forgotten all about it by the time you reach the toilet on your way out.

Unstoppable is released in the UK on the 24th of November 2010

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