Unstoppable

Directed by Tony Scott

(PG-13)

***

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Unstoppable is “as good as its name,” said Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. An unmanned train hauling combustible chemicals is barreling through Pennsylvania, and it’s up to a veteran engineer (Denzel Washington) and a newbie conductor (Chris Pine) to stop it. The premise is borrowed from the true story of a runaway train that stormed through Ohio in 2002, and director Tony Scott reaches into his bag of trademark tricks—grainy film, snap zooms, superfast pacing—to show “why old-school professionalism never goes out of style.” He’s at least finally found the ideal use for his “hyperkinetic, headache-inducing” methods, said Christy Lemire in the Associated Press. Tactics that felt like overkill in Scott and Washington’s last ride together, 2009’s The Taking of Pelham 123, here just add to the pounding momentum. For the film’s blue-collar heroes, the story is simply “Murphy’s Law playing out at breathtaking speed,” said Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal. The only thing that never goes wrong is the runaway film they’re riding. “You’ve got to see this new one to appreciate how smart and genuinely thrilling it is.”