The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

While most of TV shows are now ended until the Fall, I started to see a little more movies. So, on Tuesday my choice was "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3", starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott.

I'm not huge fan of action movies but I like them once in a while. Plus, I must admit that, even if he doesn't always make the best choices in his movies, I like John Travolta. A lot.


While I was on my way to see to movies I clearly realized that I was in this position ... you know ... when you perfectly know that it won't be good but you can't refrain yourself to go anymay.


The Story


A New York City subway train is hijacked by a small group of armed men, lead by a guy who named himself Ryder. They hold passengers hostages while Ryder request 10 millions dollars. During the negotiation, he will be in contact with the dispatcher Walter Garber, who really didn't need that.


The Actors


John Travolta is playing the bad guy as "Ryder", which is obviously a character closer to a Vincent Vega (in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction) than to a Danny Zuko (who forgot Grease ???).


Denzel Washington is Walter Garber, the dispatcher who could be the good guy next door ... but still not a saint.


I should also mention John Turturo (who also be soon on screen in "Transformers") and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) as a perfectly disgusting mayor.


What Did I Think ?


I must say that I didn't take much attention to Tony Scott's work lately and I couln't name 5 movies he directed (while he did much than that) ... I barely remembered "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder"... and the first frames of Pelham strangely remind me of the first frames of Top Gun. I had that bad feeling that he was still making movies just like he did in the eighties, remaining in his strict comfort zone. It wasn't starting very well.

And unfortunately, it didn't really improve.

The good side of the movie is that I didn't think it was too long. Well, some scenes could have been cut but it wasn't excessive like some other movies where you can easily find half an hour to cut.

But the story is also highly predictable which is never a good thing. I didn't find even a shadow of a surprise in the script.

However, if you just take it for what it is (one of the numerous action movies of the summer), it's good enough to spend an evening at the movie. But don't expect too much of it. And if you a have a decent home cinema system, you wouldn't miss a lot if you wait to rent it when it will be released on DVD.