Unstoppable follows Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg, as he defies expectations to become a champion wrestler in college, competing against the very school that rejected him.
This movie has an identity crisis. Alongside Jharrel Jerome as Anthony, Unstoppable stars Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle and Michael Peña. It wants to give all of these actors their time to shine, and loses focus on the main character because of this.
Jerome delivers a great performance as Anthony. He brings the necessary physicality to the role, while also executing on the emotional moments. Lopez, Cheadle and Peña are all… there. None of them feel particularly on their A-game, though that is in part due to the writing of their characters.
Unstoppable also has a dialogue problem that almost makes the flick feel lifeless at times. Conversations feel completely scripted, with characters constantly sharing analogies and metaphors about life rather than having normal discussions. These powerful messages should be saved for impactful moments, but instead the film becomes overrun with robtic-like communication.
With an inspiring and uplifting story like this, Unstoppable doesn’t feel as grand as it should. The film quickly glosses over a lot of crucial moments, moving from scene to scene without further examining the characters’ decisions. It also struggles with truly capturing the magnitude of these big moments.
While Unstoppable has its issues, the central story itself was made for a movie. The film is able to capture this spirit over the final 20 minutes, going all-in on the wrestling story. While overly exaggerated to make the flick more entertaining for general audiences, these wrestling sequences are exhilarating and immersive.
Unstoppable has all of the pieces to be a hit, but I can see why it was regulated to being a Prime Original. It confuses who the star of the story is at times, and doesn’t make Roble’s accomplishments feel as large as they should. It’s a motivational sports movie… but only for one-third of the 116-minute runtime.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
