Movie Review: Unstoppable

Courtney Gordon
This fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thriller beat out all of its competitors on opening day. Contenders included “Skyline,” and “Morning Glory,” but the film that was neck and neck with none other than “Megamind,” which was on its second weekend. Almost everyone can go for a good hero movie to lift up their spirits, especially if that hero is just a regular, everyday working class hero, just waiting for their moment to shine; it also doesn’t hurt to have some great actors to carry out your eventful plot. Actors in this film included Denzel Washington (“The Book of Eli”), Chris Pine (“Star Trek” 2010), Rosario Dawson (“Seven Pounds”), Ethan Suplee (“Fanboys”) and Kevin Dunn (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”).

Dewey (Suplee) works in a train yard and had the bright idea to get out of a train that he was moving to another track, and when it came time to catch up with it again, his sizable and idiotic self was unable to do so; the train is half a mile long, set on full power, and carrying some highly combustible materials. Frank (Washington) has been working as a railroad engineer (he drives the train basically) for 28 years and isn’t about to stand by and watch this train plow through a turn that it can’t make and decimate a city. Frank’s conductor, Will (Pine), is training with him and this is his first day to actually conduct a train. With only a short distance to catch up to this runaway train, Will and Frank listen to the voice of Connie (Dawson), the yard master at the runaway train’s original location, to stay updated on distance, speeds, etc. These two heroes are also under the impression that by following this train and attempting to slow it down, they’ll be losing their jobs, because Galvin (Dunn), a corporate know-it-all, is positive that his plan to derail the train in the middle of a city will work. The clock is ticking, and the near death experiences just keep adding up. Will these heroes be able to catch up to the runaway train in time to save lives? Or will one or both of them lose their lives in the process?


This movie is very much worth seeing on a big screen. Lately, I’ve been trying to give my reviews based on saving money where you can and not seeing movies that aren’t any better on a bigger screen; if you like action thrillers, then you definitely don’t want to miss this one. And it’s a great movie for everyone, because it’s got action, suspense, bits of comedy, and even a few sentimental moments. Some parts, I will admit, are fairly predictable, but you should still be able to enjoy yourself, unless you just hate predictable movies, in which case you should probably skip this one. I give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars.