Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2009

Denzel Washington in The Taking of Pelham 123

When a gang of criminal types audaciously hijacks a New York subway train and takes hostages, a mild-mannered dispatcher must use his vast knowledge of the transit system to try to outwit the baddies. How are they going to make their getaway once the ransom is delivered? Tony Scott’s remake of the 1974 psychothriller updates the characters and techs up the story, as is fitting for a retelling after 35 years, but he also adds a bunch of superfluous false-energy flourishes—car crashes, explosions and an absurd car-chase ending. It’s as if Scott habitually underestimates the attention span of his audiences and feels the need to put his imprimatur on the material. All that said, this is still a compelling and relentless studio product, if that’s what you’re in the mood for. John Travolta does his patented sociopath thing, this time sporting a threatening Fu Manchu moustache. We’ve seen this character before (Broken Arrow, Swordfish), but it usually works. And Denzel Washington does his patented underplayed, rock-solid anchor as the dispatcher. Also John Turturro, Luis Guzman and James Gandolfini.

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