From director Tony Scott comes the remake of the classic 1974 film, "The Taking of Pelham 123," a thriller about disgruntled men who hijack a New York subway train and hold its occupants hostage.
The film's strength is in its ability to uniformly adapt the plot to modern day technology, while maintaining a similar feel to the original film. The police, despite having modern GPS and weapons technology, remain as unable to penetrate the car in the new film as they were in the original. This allows much of the original film's danger to remain present without requiring the viewer to willingly suspend disbelief too often. In addition, the film moves at an excellent pace. It begins slow in order to introduce the main character, Denzel Washington's Walter Garber, and provide some back story. It picks up in the middle, and climaxes perfectly at the end while revealing details of its characters slowly and naturally.
The movie suffers from a lack of interesting characters. Denzel Washington, normally the star of any movie he comes near, lacks in his performance. This is likely because the character is one-dimensional. Garber is a devout family man in trouble for a bribe he claims to have not committed (this scenario seems awfully reminiscent of his character in the recent "Inside Man," except not nearly as dynamic or well acted). His character seemingly has no moral conflicts or motivations other than pure good, which makes him dull. However, one can't blame Washington for this; actors can only really do what the script allows them. However, Travolta's character, the main villain, Ryder, is by far the worst of the film. While trying to appear unpredictable and disturbed, the character comes off as goofy and immature. Though the character isn't afraid to kill, he still doesn't seem convincing or dangerous at all. In addition, the whole theme of getting revenge on the city of New York, as presented in this film, makes no sense at all really. Ryder's back story is derivative and his motivations implausible.
Overall, the film is entertaining. It is fun to watch, and is a good choice for a slow weekend afternoon. Though, its characters lack the dynamism that the actors are capable of. while watching this film most people will likely ask themselves, if only briefly, "Why does this remake exist?"
Kris Lorenz
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
From director Tony Scott comes the remake of the classic 1974 film, "The Taking of Pelham 123," a thriller about disgruntled men who hijack a New York subway train and hold its occupants hostage.
The film's strength is in its ability to uniformly adapt the plot to modern day technology, while maintaining a similar feel to the original film. The police, despite having modern GPS and weapons technology, remain as unable to penetrate the car in the new film as they were in the original. This allows much of the original film's danger to remain present without requiring the viewer to willingly suspend disbelief too often. In addition, the film moves at an excellent pace. It begins slow in order to introduce the main character, Denzel Washington's Walter Garber, and provide some back story. It picks up in the middle, and climaxes perfectly at the end while revealing details of its characters slowly and naturally.
The movie suffers from a lack of interesting characters. Denzel Washington, normally the star of any movie he comes near, lacks in his performance. This is likely because the character is one-dimensional. Garber is a devout family man in trouble for a bribe he claims to have not committed (this scenario seems awfully reminiscent of his character in the recent "Inside Man," except not nearly as dynamic or well acted). His character seemingly has no moral conflicts or motivations other than pure good, which makes him dull. However, one can't blame Washington for this; actors can only really do what the script allows them. However, Travolta's character, the main villain, Ryder, is by far the worst of the film. While trying to appear unpredictable and disturbed, the character comes off as goofy and immature. Though the character isn't afraid to kill, he still doesn't seem convincing or dangerous at all. In addition, the whole theme of getting revenge on the city of New York, as presented in this film, makes no sense at all really. Ryder's back story is derivative and his motivations implausible.
Overall, the film is entertaining. It is fun to watch, and is a good choice for a slow weekend afternoon. Though, its characters lack the dynamism that the actors are capable of. while watching this film most people will likely ask themselves, if only briefly, "Why does this remake exist?"
