Review of "Unstoppable"

There's a gut-level simplicity to "Unstoppable" that works despite all its clichés.

This is the story of a train without anyone at the controls, speeding toward civilization carrying tons of explosives and poisonous gas, destined to teeter and crash when it comes to one particularly sharp curve. When it goes, the destruction will be massive. It's like watching a bomb tick down — as the bomb is speeding right at your face.

It helps mightily, of course, that director Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Crimson Tide") knows how to stage this stuff better than just about anybody. His dashing cameras — the guy loves to swirl around his subjects — turn the train into a sort of rampaging metal dinosaur, snorting steam, glinting madly in the sun. Scott is working with real-world feel here — computer gimmickry seems kept to a minimum — and the visceral impact is impressive.

Unfortunately, the human drama that plays out against this scenario is pretty standard fare — unlikely heroes, uncaring corporate monster, shouting in the control room, last minute gymnastics, etc.

But hey, it's an action movie; and when it comes to gritty thrills, "Unstoppable" delivers.

Denzel Washington stars as grizzled veteran train engineer Frank Barnes who's teamed up with comparative rookie train conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) one day for what looks to be a mundane series of stops adding and dropping cars in rural Pennsylvania.

Little do they know that through some lazy mishaps at a nearby station, a half-mile-long train packing the equivalent of a nuclear payload has started shooting down the track right at them, with no one able to stop it.

Frank decides they should chase it and try to slow it down.

The corporate honcho in charge of everything (Kevin Dunn) tells them to back off; they're going to derail the train before it gets to a population center. But our heroes ignore his threats, fearing — correctly — that they won't be able to pull off the derailing.

So you've got one speeding train chasing another, hoping to do something before it's too late.

Now, of course, Frank and Will are going to end up sharing their private stories with one another as their train hurtles toward likely oblivion. And of course they're going to form a very special bond.

That's how things go in films like this. You're going to hear about Frank's grown daughters and Will's domestic problems. It's unavoidable, just like the big finish ending.

But Scott keeps the action cranking at such a steady pace it doesn't matter how familiar the dramatic structure is. That train keeps on coming and it's about to blow one big hole in the world.

This is the fifth film Washington and Scott have made together (the last was "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3"), and it may be their best since they first bonded over "Crimson Tide" in 1995.

They usually deliver polished Hollywood thrillers, but there's something particularly elemental and fierce about "Unstoppable."

It has no pretensions. It's about a train. That's going to blow up. So get out of the way or get on board.