Unstoppable

The grizzled veteran, the untested rookie, the feisty person in the trenches, the rich suits who make the calls but don't know anything, the pushy press corp, the brainiac with amazingly convenient knowledge and the big problem no one can solve. Almost every action movie has these parts, but only a few end up being greater than the sum of their parts. "Unstoppable" is such an action movie.

For me, as I watched this one a few weeks ago, I came to a realization. A lot of action movies try to bring in human elements, but spend so much time on the human stories that the pace of the action is lost or the stories are inane (one type of Michael Bay movie). Some action movies have no human element, so in the midst of all the chases and explosions, it can be difficult to care about the characters (the other type of Michael Bay movie). This movie gives us enough of a glimpse into the character's lives to care, but manages to juggle that within the context of the action of the movie.

The movie deals with a train that has accidentally been throttled and left unmanned. As it careens through Pennsylvania, the folks back at the station have to figure out a way to stop the train. They must stop the train before it reaches a particular town which has such a sharp turn on the track that there is no way the train will make the turn at full speed without derailing. Also, the train is carrying copious amounts of harmful chemicals, so any crash would result in mass destruction. On the other side of the state, Frank and Will (a classic duo played by Denzel Washington and Chris Pine) are heading straight for the runaway train, and for reasons I won't go into, they are unable to get out of the way.

Sometimes, bad material is made better by good actors. In this movie, good material is made great by good acting. Denzel Washington has been given all the appropriate accolades over the course of his career, but this movie has his wonderful skill and charisma on display yet again. Chris Pine is also quite good, and the two of them are able to take some cliched dialogue ("I've been driving trains for 28 years...what do you know?") and make it very believable. Rosario Dawson plays Connie at the control center, and her performance reminds me of Ed Harris in "Apollo 13". She knows when to take over, and when to delegate. And Chris Dunn plays the ultimate stuffed shirt. He is Connie's supervisor, and he makes all the wrong calls, while the less paid peons come up with all the right ideas. The viewer even gets the satisfying scenes of watching Connie, Will and Frank all tell off their supervisor, something about which most of us have dreamed at one time or another. All of this is overseen by Tony Scott, who brings it all together with great skill.

So here it is, proof that the big studios can make wonderful entertainment. Pop some corn, grab a friend and put this one in...and then get ready for a great ride.

Cars 2

I have a feeling that the conception of this movie revolved around how many more toys Disney would be able to sell. This movie plays like an amazing looking two hour toy commercial. It was entertaining, to be sure, but it lacked much of the heart of the original, and continues to illustrate what can fall short at time in Pixar films. Now, before everyone comes screaming at me with knives for saying that every Pixar film is nothing but total genius, I want to say I like Pixar movies. I have begun to like them even more now that I have kids, and I can see them through their eyes. But here also lies the problem...kids cannot possibly comprehend the Pixar movies totally, since they are riddled with inside jokes and double entendres. The innocence of other Disney movies can be lost in that. That doesn't mean these films don't work well for what they are, but it does mean that some of them fall short of classic story telling. "Finding Nemo" succeeded, "Wall-E" showed a Chaplinesque brilliance, and "Toy Story 3" worked well for adults, since it is mainly about a child growing up. But "Cars 2" is simply ordinary. That's hard to do, because the animation here is amazing, and the visual imagination continues to impress me. But the story is flat. My kids had almost no interaction with the movie (Corrie wept when she first saw "Nemo", and I heard nothing from her during this one).
Such as it is, this movie's plot revolves around Lightning McQueen taking part in an international Grand Prix, and how Tow-Mater gets caught up in a James Bondesque international intrigue. There is the obligatory shot at big oil, and then we are off on an international spy caper. McQueen shows little sensitivity to Mater, and somehow they have to patch up their friendship. All this gives the animators the chance to showcase some truly brilliant visuals of Tokyo, the Italian Riviera, Paris, and London.
What the Pixar movies sometimes do very well is evoke emotion and heart ("Up" did this very well). The original "Cars" also did this effectively by showing us the bygone era of Route 66 and making it universal by making its audience remember places in all of our hearts that have gone away. This movie does not try to evoke much emotion. In so doing, it loses the texture of storytelling. Also, as a parent, one of the things that always is slightly off putting with Pixar films is just how geared toward grownups these films really are. Before "Cars 2", we saw a trailer for the new "Winnie the Pooh" film, and both Steph and I saw a movie we know our kids will love. That trailer elicited more of a response in minutes from the kids than "Cars 2" did in hours. The Pooh movies are able to entertain adults by chiefly appealing to the inner child in adults rather than to them as adults. Steph and I aren't as interested in all the bells and whistles as much as we are interested in simple storytelling for our kids. Having said that, our kids have seen nearly all of the Pixar movies, and we will continue to watch them. Further, some of the films do indeed have traits of classic storytelling. This movie lacks childlike storytelling, but has all the bells and whistles to keep the kids entertained. The hatred of the critics that I have seen directed toward this movie sort of baffles me. Since Pixar films are such darlings of the critics, this one is getting roasted since it doesn't measure up. Folks, this is a fun movie with very little depth that is amazing to look at. If you're up for an entertaining, somewhat forgettable 2 hours, see the movie. If you want a deeper emotional experience as well, I suggest you rent "Finding Nemo".