Spring Break
'Pelham' takes audience on bumpy ride
Kip Mooney
Issue date: 6/19/09 Section: ARTS & LIFE
2 out of 5 stars
The onslaught begins early in "The Taking of Pelham 123."
From the headache-inducing opening credits, set to a remix of Jay-Z's "99 Problems," emphasizing the downbeat of that killer guitar riff, quickly moves from shot to shot of New York City at its busiest and most frenetic: It's 2 p.m. on the dot and a hefty Fu Manchu-ed thug named Ryder (John Travolta) and his band of miscreants have just stepped on the titular train. And now it's evidently clear what's going to happen now.
Actually, it's pretty clear what's going to happen for the rest of the movie.
Despite being updated a bit for our technology-obsessed, post-Sept. 11 world, this remake is just another hostage/heist movie you've seen a dozen times before.
Travolta, adding a neck tattoo to "toughen up" what's basically the same biker persona from 2007's disastrous "Wild Hogs," is pretty harmless other than outbursts of extreme violence and a favor of the M.F. word.
But he does love to toy with people.
Enter transit man Walter Garber (Denzel, doing his best God bless him), who serves as negotiator.
Garber has all eyes on him, and not just because the man on the other end is demanding $10 million in exchange for hostages. It seems Garber may or may not have been totally honest in some of his business dealings.
But the sketchy details of Garber's past are simply a way the script tries to blur the lines between hero and villain, citizen and terrorist.
Giving a protagonist flaws does not make him an antihero. Giving a story twists does not make it smart.
But it's all supposed to work this way in the latest from Tony Scott (Ridley's much more inconsistent brother).
OK. So it doesn't all work. Actually, most of it doesn't. When someone's not on a walkie-talkie or P.A. system, or the action takes place above ground, the movie loses its momentum. There's some tension, but not nearly enough. And the quick edits and shaky-cam are supposed to add to the confusion, but really they just add to my nausea.
About the only thing that works is the electrifying interaction between Washington and Travolta. Their tête-à-tête makes the movie pop.
If only it had been enough to carry this summer movie, which desperately wants to have it both ways, being big and loud and dumb on one hand, and smart and insightful and introspective on the other. Injecting some political commentary does not make your action movie deep.
"The Taking of Pelham 123" is a clear example of trial and error. And unfortunately the creative team had one too many slip-ups to save this runaway train.
The onslaught begins early in "The Taking of Pelham 123."
From the headache-inducing opening credits, set to a remix of Jay-Z's "99 Problems," emphasizing the downbeat of that killer guitar riff, quickly moves from shot to shot of New York City at its busiest and most frenetic: It's 2 p.m. on the dot and a hefty Fu Manchu-ed thug named Ryder (John Travolta) and his band of miscreants have just stepped on the titular train. And now it's evidently clear what's going to happen now.
Actually, it's pretty clear what's going to happen for the rest of the movie.
Despite being updated a bit for our technology-obsessed, post-Sept. 11 world, this remake is just another hostage/heist movie you've seen a dozen times before.
Travolta, adding a neck tattoo to "toughen up" what's basically the same biker persona from 2007's disastrous "Wild Hogs," is pretty harmless other than outbursts of extreme violence and a favor of the M.F. word.
But he does love to toy with people.
Enter transit man Walter Garber (Denzel, doing his best God bless him), who serves as negotiator.
Garber has all eyes on him, and not just because the man on the other end is demanding $10 million in exchange for hostages. It seems Garber may or may not have been totally honest in some of his business dealings.
But the sketchy details of Garber's past are simply a way the script tries to blur the lines between hero and villain, citizen and terrorist.
Giving a protagonist flaws does not make him an antihero. Giving a story twists does not make it smart.
But it's all supposed to work this way in the latest from Tony Scott (Ridley's much more inconsistent brother).
OK. So it doesn't all work. Actually, most of it doesn't. When someone's not on a walkie-talkie or P.A. system, or the action takes place above ground, the movie loses its momentum. There's some tension, but not nearly enough. And the quick edits and shaky-cam are supposed to add to the confusion, but really they just add to my nausea.
About the only thing that works is the electrifying interaction between Washington and Travolta. Their tête-à-tête makes the movie pop.
If only it had been enough to carry this summer movie, which desperately wants to have it both ways, being big and loud and dumb on one hand, and smart and insightful and introspective on the other. Injecting some political commentary does not make your action movie deep.
"The Taking of Pelham 123" is a clear example of trial and error. And unfortunately the creative team had one too many slip-ups to save this runaway train.
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