Showing posts with label Denzel Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denzel Washington. Show all posts

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Unstoppable (2010)

This is your basic action movie, but it had enough to keep my interest, and it was better than Tony Scott's last film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. It captured my interest throughout.

Frank Barnes and Will Colson (Denzel Washington and Chris Pine) have set out to move line of train cars from one end of the track to another. Also, they don't really care for each other. Barnes is a career railman, while Colson took the job as something to do. While they're on the trek, another train carrying cars full of hazardous materials is barreling down the tracks straight toward them. Bigger problem: No one's at the helm of the runaway train. The first step is to make sure they can get out of the way before the cars run straight into them. When the plan becomes a disaster effort, Barnes and Colson decide to take matters into their own hands and track the sucker down. They need to make sure they do it before the train reaches an impossible turn in a densely populated area. Game on.

Again, this was a basic, but very enjoyable action flick. There was enough suspense and intensity to keep me glued to the screen the whole time. Speaking of time, it was also the right length. Any longer or shorter would have detrimentally hurt the film. The biggest problem I have, and it was noticeable, was the amount of moving panoramic shots. I understand they're used to build suspense, but they just made me dizzy. Also, they're unnecessary while people are just talking. That being said, most action fans should enjoy this. Grade: B

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

Tony Scott has a way of directing action thrillers that are just fun eye candy (see: Enemy of the State and Deja Vu). This movie is no exception to that rule.

Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is a demoted subway dispatcher who starts his day like any other one, by directing trains throughout New York City. His day changes when Ryder (John Travolta) and his band of merry men hijacks the Pelham 123. Once the dispatch realizes there is a problem, they alert the proper authorities. The problem being that once Ryder talked to Garber, he was the only one he wanted to talk. Garber was then the go-between for Ryder, the police and the nameless NYC mayor (James Gandolfini). The hijacking took a lot of planning and Ryder wasn't going to go down without a fight.

This movie was nothing great, but it wasn't bad either. It was your fun, basic action thriller with a couple of nice plot surprises. The reasoning behind Ryder's heist was something new and refreshing. If you're just looking for solid movie, watch this.