Review of 'UNSTOPPABLE'

UNSTOPPABLE:

FRANK is a middle age freight locomotive engineer who is a little annoyed at having a rookie, WILL as his conductor on locomotive 1206. He feels the company is squeezing the veterans out to hire youngsters.  DEWEY and GILLECE are two other workers who are ordered to move a different train, locomotive 777, to another track. Due to royal screwups on the part of Dewey and Gillece, their train, 777, ends up going down the track on its own power and without any engineer on board. Worse, it's loaded with toxic chemicals.  Worse still, there is a sharp curve is a populous city that is sure to overturn 777 and kill zillions of people.  And 777 is headed directly towards 1206 with Frank and Will.

Oy vay.

Denzel Washington plays Frank, and he is superb in the role, though the character he portrays is too noble to be realistic. The other actors are also very good.

Some of the scenes with Frank in the engine's cab give an impressive sensation of the power these trains have.

I don't know what safety procedures are standard in the train industry, but the events leading to the crisis are not credible. Gileece disconnects the air-brakes on 777, and Dewey jumps off it (to throw a switch) and can't get back on--both of these actions to save time. Are there railroad workers that stupid? I sure hope not.

This movie is highly formulaic. It starts out introducing the characters, and then beginning the complications that are at first bothersome, but soon lead to the full blown crisis. Various fixes are tried, seem to work, but then fail. In the meantime, you learn more about the characters; Frank is a widower having trouble with his teenage daughters, and Will is estranged from his wife due to his rage outbreaks. We see the stereotypical sleazy bosses who only want to save money and don't care about fatalities. Finally, we're at a spot where only incredible heroism has any chance of working, and even that isn't guaranteed.

But hey, the formula works. You watch it with rapt attention, tense, waiting to see how it will play out. As a workout movie, I give it +++++ - it should get your pulse up to a sprint.