The Taking of Pelham 123

Review by Anthony Morris

There are a lot of reasons why the original Taking of Pelham 123 is still fondly remembered:

Cool theme music, convincing sense of urban grit, solidly believable thriller plotting, down-to-earth characters and a wry sense of humour running throughout. 

None of which get a look-in in director Tony Scott's frenetic re-working. At least the basic idea remains the same...

A bunch of bad guys (led by John Travolta doing his usual flashy bad guy act complete with dodgy facial hair) take a New York subway train hostage and demand a whole lot of money or they start killing people. 

In the original the crooks dealt with Walter Mattheau's rumpled subway cop; here Travolta deals with a regular-guy subway supervisor (Denzel Washington), who's lack of negotiating skills is meant to ramp up the tension. 

And it does a little, but in a predictable way, which is pretty much how most of this film operates. 

The Taking of Pelham 123 is slick and fairly enjoyable (until the action moves away from the train towards the end), but for all the shouting and gun-waving there is never much sense of surprise or suspense, as if the whole thing were running on the same rails the Pelham 123 travels along. 

That's not to say that director Tony Scott (Man on Fire, True Romance) doesn't know how to keep things moving swiftly along those rails (despite an over-the-top plot packed with ridiculous moments), or that he isn't able to keep you watching the screen. 

It's just that in all of Taking of Pelham 123's shabby glory the original felt like something that might surprise you; this just feels like another loud, flashy action movie.

3 out of 5

The Taking of Pelham 123
Australian release: 27th August, 2009
Official Site: The Taking Of Pelham 123
Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán, Victor Gojcaj
Director: Tony Scott