‘Unstoppable’ – Runaway train vs. Denzel and Kirk 2.0

At this point director Tony Scott can probably finish Denzel Washington’s sentences – and audiences know what to expect when the two team up for yet another film project.

For “Unstoppable,” the duo’s fifth collaboration, Washington plays a railroad veteran trying to stop a runaway train heading right toward a Pennsylvania town.

Never mind the particulars. Scott and Washington each deliver what’s expected of them – bracing set pieces anchored by the most casually commanding actor around.

And if that wasn’t enough, “Unstoppable” reassures us “Star Trek’s” Chris Pine is the real deal.

Based on true events, “Unstoppable” begins with a nitwit rail yard employee (Ethan Suplee) accidentally lets a locomotive hauling toxic chemicals free without an engineer on board. The train and its 39 cars quickly pick up speed until there’s no practical way of stopping it – or even slowing it down.

Enter Frank Barnes (Washington), a veteran brakeman in the right position to chase the train with his own locomotive. His conductor, a neophyte named Will Colson (Pine) might be the last person Frank wants by his side. But the two put their differences aside to stop the train, a task made even harder by the evil corporate types pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Scott and Washington’s best previous collaboration, “Man on Fire,” delivered the required jolts while turning the actor into a quasi-Superman. But Washington works best when asked to be the weary hero pressed into service, the precise role he assumes here.

Pairing Washington with an upstart like Pine seems like Rote Casting 101 – the old pro meets the whippersnapper with a chip on his shoulder. That doesn’t matter because the actors click on screen. They bicker at first, but events take over that force them to shelve their posturing. Kudos to “Unstoppable” screenwriter Mark Bomback for using logic here. Too many movies would have let these characters argue until the credits rolled.

Pine could have been an irritant here, trying way too hard to prove his mettle – and his position as tomorrow’s action hero. Instead, he reassures audiences that his work in “Star Trek” wasn’t a fluke.

“Unstoppable” uses creative sound design and nifty camera angles to make us feel the unbridled power of the runaway train. But Scott puts the pedal to the metal on the film’s reaction shots, accompanying every heroic act with a litany of “you go, guy” montages which seemed out of date during the “Rocky” saga. And the news teams scurrying to capture the train catastrophe cover the news like a prize fight, oh so eager to narrate every winning move and downfall.

Yes, Scott’s shaky cam tics are on full display in “Unstoppable” – maybe he’ll get a tripod for the holidays – but his command of the film’s sights and sounds gives the film an undeniable kick.

The main characters’ back stories add little to the mix, but nice supporting turns by Rosario Dawson and Lew Temple provide an extra dollop of grit.

“Unstoppable” isn’t For Your Consideration, nor does it tweak the action film formula by anything more than a few degrees. It’s simply escapism done right, a summer movie deposited into the Fall movie schedule.

(Photo: Denzel Washington plays a veteran brakeman trying to stop a train heading straight for a densely populated town. Photo by Robert Zuckerman)

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