The Taking of Pelham 123

2009 and 2010 were two years where John Travolta decided that he wanted to play really dangerous bald men and just got freaking nuts with his performances. Now I haven't been a huge Travolta fan in anything so I don't know if this is any different than anything I've seen him in before but this is what I do know. I hate Grease, and I think Pulp Fiction is overrated. Unfortunately for Travota, I alsodidn't like From Paris With Love, the sequel crazy performance that happened in 2010 to compliment this performance from 2009's The Taking of Pelham 123. 

This film is the second remake of a movie that was an adaptation of a novel back in the 70s. The funny thing is, I really don't think anybody in my generation saw any of the adaptations of this film and I can't say that a lot of people have said they have read the novel... so... this is just a movie and I have no thoughts on comparing this with anything. 

The Taking of Pelham 123 stars Denzel Washington as Walter Garber. He is working as a dispatch

officer for the New York Subway station and he's very good at his job. Garber is going about his day when suddenly a train stops mid tracks and it is soon revealed that the car has been taken hostage by a group of armed men.

These men are led by a man who only introduces himself as Ryder (played by John Travolta). He takes over the communication systems the conductor has to dispatch and he ends up having conversations with Walter Garber throughout the whole event.

Now you might say, how is this any different than Inside Man except instead Clive Owen talking to Denzel in a bank, John Travolta is talking to Denzel in a subway train car?

Well besides the fact that Inside Man was directed by Spike Lee and has his distinctive style, something you don't get in The Taking of Pelham 123, these characters and situations could not be any different. 

On one hand you have Walter Garber. Garber is not an FBI agent, he is just a regular guy who is down on his luck. He just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and he becomes the most important person in preventing the plans of Ryder and his crew. It of course is a testament to Washington's talent as he gained weight for the role and he by no means looks like an action star in this movie. What makes Garber an interesting character is how personable and nice of a guy he is in this film. Like I said, he's no hero, he's even pretty flawed. But he's able to communicate with someone as unhinged as Ryder throughout the film and he becomes a comparable rival to Ryder. 

And Ryder is obviously the best part of this movie. While I didn't like From Paris with Love, it is really fun to see John Travolta just go freaking nuts and do a performance that is just unhinged from anything you're used to. I mean if you're not familiar with all of Travolta's work, you probably only know him from Grease or the fact that he's into Scientology. So there's crazy and then there's Travolta crazy. And so this performance comes and it seems to be this weird crossover where he's flamboyant but crazy as hell and it's actually really entertaining to see him just go crazy. And throughout the movie, you spend it wondering what his plan is and how he plans to get out of this situation, something that doesn't become clear until the end of the film. 

The problem is, the whole reveal isn't necessarily a huge surprise because the movie is so simple. Its

a very straight forward crime thriller and you're not necessarily going to see yourself go into a lot of twists and turns in this story. Its more just a mind game between Garber and Ryder. And a story of that simplicity really does have a lot of value to it. However, you almost expect the movie to have larger implications and at the end of the day, it really doesn't. Again, I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, but it's just an interesting change of form.

Speaking of change of form, the format of the film is not exactly your straight forward format either. I won't say its as wacky and inconsistent as Inside Man was directed by Spike Lee, but its not nearly as clean and well comprised in this film. On top of that, the film is done in real time, at a time when real time was very popular from shows like 24. This is something that does work for the film but it doesn't really feel like the film is actually in real time. Its never mentioned and its not very apparent to people watching the film. It took me a little bit to realize that it was in that format and if I'm like a normal person just watching this movie without reading anything, I may not pick up on that. It doesn't stick out.

But like I said, the story for The Taking of Pelham 123 is pretty darn simple. Bad guys show up, they've got their plot, its up to the good guys to stop it. The in between is Ryder just trying to get into the head of Garber and the FBI and trying to get away with a good load of money by holding up a subway train car hostage. 

Peppered in there is a weird promotional video for the city of New York which is oddly strange. Like everyone in this movie of course believes New York is the greatest city on Earth, and I'm sure if I

lived there I would think the same, but its a little bit over the top in this film, especially with a man man with a gun shooting up hostages. Let's tone down the pride until the end of the situation and then we can pump our chests.

Overall, The Taking of Pelham 123 is a fun movie to just enjoy at face value. Travolta is having a lot of fun with the role, even though its overly simplistic and not really a mind blowing plot. I'm convinced everything Denzel Washington touches turns to gold, and the action and the mind games between Garber and Ryder are fun enough to enjoy this movie enough. Its not gonna win any awards or even go down as a phenomenal film, but its a fun movie you can just sit back and enjoy. I recommend it for an easy watching and to just enjoy a cinematic adventure.

But those are my thoughts on The Taking of Pelham 123? Have you seen the original? How does it hold up? How does it hold up to the book? Let me know your thoughts on that and on the movie in general. Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog. 

I'll leave you with this. You can't watch a Travolta movie and not bring up his pronunciation of Idina Menzel's name. Enjoy!