Here's the latest action exploit from one of the most stereotypical action directors working in show business today, Tony Scott, brother of the much more acclaimed Ridley Scott. Unstoppable is a story about a runaway train tearing through Pennsylvania at breakneck speeds. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine play the two conductors who take it upon themselves to stop this train when all other strategies fail. The film switches frenetically from the train to the railroad central, to the corporate office, to the various towns the runaway train passes through, and to another train full of school children that one would assume serves a purpose, but it doesn't. It's something that is forgotten the farther into the movie we go and the more branches and subplots that stem from the array of characters this convoluted film presents. Unstoppable can't keep its storyline structured and coherent enough to really mean anything, and what we are left with is another clichéd and easily forgettable action flick.

There seems to be no originality left in Tony Scott's mind. Every one of his films tends to be the same exact formula with the same exact look and feel. The music is identical, the story follows the same basic path, the cinematography is exactly the same, and the acting and dialogue is in the exact same style from film to film. Unstoppable presents absolutely nothing new. It plays out exactly how one would expect and with all the smaller elements that play up a totally unoriginal atmosphere that we've seen countless times before from this director. If you've seen Scott's The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 then you've pretty much seen Unstoppable. Creativity is a dwindling thing in Hollywood, and Unstoppable proves that.

What annoys me most about a film like this is probably the wasted potential that I see on screen. Unstoppable has the workings of an interesting story. The idea of a runaway train could have created something much more thrilling and engaging if done right. But in the context of this film we know exactly how it is going to pan out. Then there's the actors in the film which all do a great job. Denzel Washington is as good as always, and Chris Pine holds his own despite being an incredibly lame character with the most obvious and clichéd back story imaginable. The film really just turns into more of the same action nonsense we see so much, especially in the way it is shot. I disliked most of the things about this film, but the one thing I truly hated was Scott's direction. The film is rife with the shaky cam stupidity that just confuses us and loses us more than entertain and engages us. It, again, doesn't make the film unique in any way. It just makes it frustrating and silly.

There are some nice things here but, overall, Unstoppable is a very dumb film that amounts to a whole lot of nothing. I didn't outright hate the film and I saw plenty of moments in it where I would have been much more excited and engaged had this film possessed even an inkling of creativity. It's just another action movie. It's not terrible but it is absolutely nothing special. I would definitely skip this movie and seek out something with a few more brain cells and a broader imagination.