Together Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott can reliably be expected to deliver hyperkinetic action sequences and box-office openings in the low $20 million range. Except for the $18 million "Crimson Tide" debuted to in 1995, this pair's flicks haven't plunged beneath the $20 million mark, nor have they floated past $24 million.
"Unstoppable," the duo's fifth collaboration, is likely to open within that familiar range, though its stellar reviews might lift the action flick's opening. Here's what critics are saying:
The Story
"Cinematic narrative doesn't get any simpler than that, and Scott wisely keeps the premise pure, ratcheting up the tension and raising the emotional stakes without cluttering up the story's sleek lines. A young, inexperienced railroad conductor named Will (Chris Pine) is on his first shift with veteran train operator Frank (Denzel Washington) on the same day that a train carrying tons of hazardous materials has been sent hurtling down its tracks without a conductor or functioning brakes. With the help of a coolheaded train executive named Connie (Rosario Dawson), who keeps in near constant contact with the men, Will and Frank narrowly escape colliding with what she calls 'a missile the size of the Chrysler Building.' Out of harm's way, their next priority is to chase the errant locomotive down and stop it before it hits a dangerous S-curve and crashes in the middle of a busy Pennsylvania city." — Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
The Performances
"Mr. Washington has never been more likable, or convincingly heroic. Sometimes he's simultaneously intense and self-effacing, proof of his own expertise in the tricky profession of being a star. 'Unstoppable' will be a turning point in Mr. Pine's career; he gives a star performance that is notable for its subtlety, simplicity and unforced strength. Thanks to the bond between them, the movie more than gets away with conversational interludes in which Will and Frank discuss life and love." — Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
The Look
"Mr. Scott is partial to blunt, rapid cuts; whipping pans; and saturated colors. He likes twirling the camera around characters, like a sugared-up tot running 360s on a playground, a hyperactive visual style that can turn the screen into a blur of pulsating color. Here, working with the cinematographer Ben Seresin and some ace sound technicians, he creates an unexpectedly rich world of chugging, rushing trains slicing across equally beautiful industrial and natural landscapes. There is something mesmerizing about these trains and the men who run them, something nostalgic too, because they seem like history machines, summoning up a past lived and also imagined, as in, for starters, 'The Great Train Robbery' (1903), 'North by Northwest' (1959) and 'Speed' (1994)." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
The Dissenters
"An action thriller seriously devoid of action or thrills, the curiously sluggish 'Unstoppable' is the slowest, talkiest movie you'll ever see about a runaway freight train loaded with toxic chemicals. The actors get a lot more to do in the admittedly brisk second half of 'Unstoppable,' but the filmmakers come up with a surprisingly small number of cliffhanger scenarios involving the speeding locomotive: 1985's 'Runaway Train,' although a dramatically different picture, did infinitely more exciting things with its premise. 'Unstoppable' picks up some speed as it hurtles toward its predictable conclusion, but the acceleration comes too late. No matter how many times Scott has his cameras circle his actors to lend the film a sense of barreling motion, you rarely feel as if this train has even left the station." — Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald
The Final Word
"Director Tony Scott may have missed his mark by a bit on his last cinematic train ride with 'The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,' but he hits his target dead-on in 'Unstoppable.' The best blue collar action movie in who knows how long, this tense, narrowly focused thriller about a runaway freight train has a lean and pure simplicity to it that is satisfying in and of itself. But in its incidental portrait of discontented and discounted working stiffs who live marginal lives on society's sidings and are angry to varying degrees, the film carries an unexpected weight and could connect with Middle American audiences in a big way." — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
Check out everything we've got on "Unstoppable."
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Rosario Dawson Wanted ‘Unstoppable’ Character To Be ‘Composed’
