Certain things are expected when movie advertising carries familiar names. Fittingly emblazoned along the sides of Tube stations and buses, this public transport based thriller has posters featuring Denzel – a sure fire sign of at least one quality performance, Travolta—a Jekyll and Hyde actor that at least guarantees a ludicrous hairpiece, and Scott—that’s Tony, younger brother of Ridley, nowhere near as good, but still a veteran of kinetic action cinema.
With remakes becoming more regular than the Circle line on a Sunday, this is an update of the 1974 Walter Matthau vehicle of the same name. When armed hijackers led by Travolta take a New York subway train hostage and demand a ransom for the terrified passengers, an unlikely hero might emerge in the rather portly shape of Walter Garber (Washington gained over 20lbs for the role), a train dispatcher with a chequered past but a fully functioning moral compass.
Pelham 123 would pass all of the train safety checks, simply because it is so middle-of-the-track it’s untrue. It’s a film so lazily shifted into cruise control that the unashamed enjoyment of it is quite embarrassing, but enjoy it you will.
That gratification will be as a result of Washington’s unnerving ability to make any character, no matter how bland, instantly interesting. The way in which he transforms a simple CB exchange with the bad guys into an emotionally gripping confessional is a moment that belongs in another, more classy narrative, but it’s this empathic success that gives us a believable protagonist with which to take this ride.
On the other hand, in Travolta we have a performer with a complete antithesis in approach to his role. Foregoing the customary wig, his Ryder is hilariously OTT; think the swagger of Vincent Vega combined with the pantomime extravagance of his Hairspray cross-dressing diva. Every time he’s on screen you are guaranteed a not always intentional laugh, but it really works.
The biggest disappointment is Scott. Hands tied from his usual schizophrenic editing style (remember the epilepsy inducing Man on Fire frame jumping?) he seems to have forgotten how to direct a film. It’s like Speed with a puncture, all of the fast paced train-out-of-control shots are depicted in slow motion, meaning that they are devoid of tension. It makes a ride on the Docklands Light Railway seem positively terrifying. Pelham 123 wins out, but only just.
[etRating value=“ 3”]
With remakes becoming more regular than the Circle line on a Sunday, this is an update of the 1974 Walter Matthau vehicle of the same name. When armed hijackers led by Travolta take a New York subway train hostage and demand a ransom for the terrified passengers, an unlikely hero might emerge in the rather portly shape of Walter Garber (Washington gained over 20lbs for the role), a train dispatcher with a chequered past but a fully functioning moral compass.
Pelham 123 would pass all of the train safety checks, simply because it is so middle-of-the-track it’s untrue. It’s a film so lazily shifted into cruise control that the unashamed enjoyment of it is quite embarrassing, but enjoy it you will.
That gratification will be as a result of Washington’s unnerving ability to make any character, no matter how bland, instantly interesting. The way in which he transforms a simple CB exchange with the bad guys into an emotionally gripping confessional is a moment that belongs in another, more classy narrative, but it’s this empathic success that gives us a believable protagonist with which to take this ride.
On the other hand, in Travolta we have a performer with a complete antithesis in approach to his role. Foregoing the customary wig, his Ryder is hilariously OTT; think the swagger of Vincent Vega combined with the pantomime extravagance of his Hairspray cross-dressing diva. Every time he’s on screen you are guaranteed a not always intentional laugh, but it really works.
The biggest disappointment is Scott. Hands tied from his usual schizophrenic editing style (remember the epilepsy inducing Man on Fire frame jumping?) he seems to have forgotten how to direct a film. It’s like Speed with a puncture, all of the fast paced train-out-of-control shots are depicted in slow motion, meaning that they are devoid of tension. It makes a ride on the Docklands Light Railway seem positively terrifying. Pelham 123 wins out, but only just.
[etRating value=“ 3”]
