Viewed in
2010
Formats
Movie theater (digital)
Premise
It's a runaway train! And only Denzel Washington and Chris Pine can stop it!
Liked
The realistic approach to the entire film.
Thoughts
From the moment I first saw the trailer, thought this was a bona fide candidate for worst movie of the year. Everything about it looked predictable, over-the-top, and cheesy. That crunching sound you hear is me eating crow.
The action scenes were quite good, thanks to director Tony Scott's reliable use of old-school vehicle stunts. Despite some herky-jerky cameras, the film was coherent in showing the chaos on a seventy miles an hour train chase.
What made this film work was its insistence on maintaining plausible drama. All the efforts by the characters to stop the train were grounded in physics and the conflicting strategies by different characters were driven by sensible motivations. The entire cast, from the two leads to the character actors were rock solid. Rosario Dawson's performance was my favorite, bringing some spice to someone who at face value barks out orders. By playing everything straight, they helped sell the illusion of a dangerous runaway train.
While it still had some cliched and predictable moments, like the gruff old timer not trusting the new kid, they were well done and not too noticeable. I was certain that there would be a scene where a family gets their car stuck on the tracks, and the kid runs back to save the dog as the train barrels down on them. But it never stooped to that. Every obstacle and action was believable.
This film was fun and exciting, thanks to Scott's ability to find that perfect balance between plausibility and entertainment. I never thought such a ludicrous premise would actually work, and I am glad I was wrong.
What I would change
Nothing.
