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Unstoppable

7/10

Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson. Kevin Dunn, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Chapman, Ethan Suplee, Jessy Schram

Director: Tony Scott

Welcome back, disaster movie. A monster train carrying (of course) highly combustible containers that could blow a whole town to kingdom come when its driver - Suplee from TV's My Name is Earl; no wonder it's a disaster with him aboard - decides to ignore a disconnected air brake, then deserts his cab to repair a signal, only to see the huge train overtake him, thrusting itself into full throttle. and becoming a runaway.

On another part of the track, Frank (Washington) and Will (Pine) are at odds on their first day together, with both on edge: Frank is being compulsorily retired and Will is estranged from his wife thanks to his own stupidity. When all attempts to stop the runaway inevitably fail, the pair become involved in a last-ditch attempt to avert a calamity.

Director Scott keeps it thundering along at the speed of the loco loco, only pausing briefly for contributions from Dunn, as the idiot railway chief failing to heed advice, and Dawson as the intelligent yardmaster willing to listen to any sensible method of stopping '777' in its tracks.

Suspense is as much a given as the trainload of schoolkids travelling in the opposite direction. Welcome back, disaster movie.

For some obscure reason this is a 12A, but children could quite happily be taken along.

David Quinlan

USA 2010. UK Distributor: 20th Century Fox. Colour by deluxe.
99 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: U.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 20 Nov 2010