The movie Unstoppable will always be a bittersweet film for me personally. Tony Scott was one of my favorite directors, and I am still so deeply heartbroken that he is gone. It is extremely rare when a film-makers' career ends on a high note, but the career of Tony Scott did just that.
Unstoppable is the story of a veteran train engineer and a rookie conductor who must stop a runaway, unmanned freight train that is carrying hazardous chemicals. On paper, one would think that a film like this would be incredibly boring. However, in the legendary hands of Tony Scott, this theoretical snooze-fest becomes an exciting, thrilling adrenaline rush that will leave you gripping the edge of your seat until your knuckles are white. There is also a thematic element at play in this film that comes as a pleasant surprise given Tony Scotts' resume. This film touches on the fact that occasionally the older, more experienced employee gets fired in favor of a young hotshot kid who takes risks and who basically gets the job because of his lineage. This makes for great character moments within this action film. Unstoppable is one of Tony Scotts' better films, if not the best, and it is because every element in the film works perfectly.
Denzel Washington plays Frank. Frank is a seasoned train engineer who is one of the best at what he does. He knows the ins and outs of what his job entails, and what a train is able to do. There is a bitterness to his character as well because he has to break someone in who is eventually going to take his job. The relationship that he has with Will (Chris Pine) is a classic case of age and experience being replaced by youth and ability. However, once the drama in the story starts to unfold, we see that it is necessary for Frank to work with Will in order to succeed. This is a character unlike anybody we have seen Washington play. Frank is very much a reflection of who Denzel Washington is, and this is an authentic performance from one of the best in the business.
Chris Pine plays Will. Will is a flawed character in a classical sense. In his mind, he is ready for the responsibility of being the new rookie conductor. Sometimes he makes the right decisions, and other times he is completely wrong. What I love about this character the most is that we see that he works well under pressure. Once he knows what is at stake and what the risks are, we see that he truly is the man for the job. This also helps develop the relationship between Will and Frank. This is a well-crafted, layered performance by Pine.
Unstoppable is the final film directed by Tony Scott. What drives this film, probably better than any other of Scotts' movies, is the pace. Like any great movie, Unstoppable takes the time to set up the characters first so that you care about what happens to them when the action starts to pick up. In the case of this movie, the character relationships actually work to the actions' benefit. These characters have never experienced anything like this, so as an audience member you feel exactly like they do. It goes without saying that Tony Scott films action sequences like nobody else. The sequence in which a locomotive attempts to pull in front of the train in order to stop it is quite harrowing to watch. It is this combination of character relationships and action sequences that make Unstoppable such a uniquely perfect movie.
Tony Scott was a vastly under-appreciated and under-rated director. His legacy will live on forever simply because of his signature style that he brought to his films. Unstoppable is a fantastic piece of cinema that I highly recommend you see as soon as possible.
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