The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

So much average

Memorable, crazy movie

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

When the director is Tony Scott, you strap in ready to go for a ride. Sadly this film is limited in scope, and doesn't go anywhere worthwhile. Enemy of the State was a great Tony Scott film. Pelham 123 is a thousand times worse. The premise is too simple. There's nothing clever about any of the characters. No plot twists, nothing to think about, and no satisfaction by the end. The bad guy played by Travolta, tries hard to give purpose to his murderous psycho plot, but it doesn't work. The writers struggle to bring anything worthwhile to the screenplay or dialog. No doubt the original book this is based on, is nothing special. The visuals try to make up for the void in the plot, with constant irritating jump cuts and over-saturated "video" effects. This stylistic treatment is overdone. Tony Scott has always used some degree of visual decoration, but this takes it too far. It starts okay, but by the time we reach the halfway point, things have descended into mediocrity and never recover. Just like with Pay Back, the studio should have intervened and re-wrote the second half, saving it from the train wreck which is Pelham 123.

So you're there on a Saturday afternoon after a long week in work and you're think about a great film to watch tonight with a nice bottle of wine and a Take-Away. This is not it. Save it for that "don't have to concentrate" film you watch on a Sunday night to forget you have work the next day.Denzel Washington is pretty safe in this as he always is. John Travolta however, terrible.I loved Travolta in Swordfish, I thought he played the bad guy quite well in that. He just doesn't seem to suit the big tough guy role.

Author John Godey's premise gets reinvented for the technology-driven 21st century in this second screen adaptation of his work. Denzel Washington stars as Walter Garber, an NYC subway system dispatcher who just happens to field the call of the movies' villain. That man is "Ryder" (John Travolta), who holds the passengers of a subway car for ransom. $10,000,000.01 to be exact. But the catch is that the money must be delivered in exactly ONE HOUR. And Ryder is willing to kill hostages as punishment for not meeting his demands to the letter.Washington and the late director Tony Scott once again team up for undemanding, technically slick thrills. Part of the problem, though, is that the presentation is often TOO flashy, with a camera that sometimes refuses to stay still. For this viewer, that approach always seems to be saying that the filmmakers don't quite trust the material. Scott is able to generate some excitement, and tension, but the story doesn't have the same impact as it did in the 1974 version.In terms of the bad guys, Travolta really is the only one to leave an impression. The Brian Helgeland script gives Luis Guzman, as a participant in Ryders' scheme, precious little to do, and the other two guys who are in on it come across as one dimensional ciphers. Travolta is definitely good, and charismatic, in a fairly flamboyant portrayal, but it's Washingtons' efficient, low key performance as a working man caught up in an escalating situation that holds the movie together.An excellent supporting cast is on hand to provide their expertise: John Turturro as a crack hostage negotiator, James Gandolfini as the mayor, John Benjamin Hickey as the deputy mayor, Michael Rispoli as Garbers' boss, Gary Basaraba as a motorman, Aunjanue Ellis as Garbers' wife, etc.There's some cringe inducing dialogue along the way, but some decent moments as well. But this version of "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" really starts to derail once it insists on turning Garber into a typical action movie hero.Watchable but uninspired.Six out of 10.

Im not going to say much.My opinion is that the film was really good in terms of script and produced the action and intensity I was looking for but there were some things that totally ruined my experience.First of all, the music was awful and did not much at all with was being depicted from the screen. Really bad music selection.Secondly, there were parts on the film that the camera would - i don't know how to say it - "lagged", moving slowly, shaking and ruined the whole part. Its like watching a horror movie and at the point where the door slowly opens, the camera man shakes the camera for like 5 seconds and you miss everything.Travolta and Washington were really great in that movie and I believe that if the team behind the scenes was better, it could have hit an 7.5-8 overall.