CINEMA: The Taking of Pelham 123

This update of the 1974 original gets the full Tony Scott treatment – flashy camera moves, glossy special effects and staccato direction with added knobs on for good measure.

This is the difference between Tony and his brother Ridley, Tony can’t just let a story tell itself, he has to add twiddles and doodles and curlicues; it’s as if he just can’t stop himself.

Playing on the paranoia of the post 9/11 world, when the Pelham 123 metro train is hijacked underneath New York, the first thought is that Islamic terrorists have committed the crime. Unfortunately for the people on the train and the network controller (Denzel Washington) back at HQ, the gang is actually being led by an ex-convict (John Travolta) with a lot of old scores to settle. He wants bucket-loads of cash or else he’ll kill the commuters onboard one by one. This brings the Mayor (James Gandolfini) and a hostage negotiator (John Turturro) into the equation, but ironically (as he’s up on corruption charges), it is only the controller the hostage takers will talk to.

What should ensue is a taut cat and mouse thriller as the two men size each other up, try and get the better of each other, and end up having a massive face off. But this being a Tony Scott movie what we actually get is train smashes, car crashes and more mayhem than Waterloo at rush hour amid a train strike.

It’s certainly got plenty of crash, bang, boom appeal but it lacks nuance and depth and ends with a frankly jaw-droppingly unbelievable (like Travolta’s handlebar moustache) finale.

Dee Pilgrim