Sitting in the theater waiting on The Taking of Pelham 123, I started thinking, “God, I hope this movie is good.” But it should be good since it stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta right? I mean, do they really ever make a bad movie? Two hours later, I have to say no, they haven’t yet. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen. Nor is it the best movie that Denzel and John have ever done, but it is a good movie.
The Taking is a remake of the 1974 movie of the same title. The original movie stared Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, and Hector Elizondo. The plots of the movie were basically the same. A gang of highjackers take over a subway train with hostages and demand money for their safe return. The city has only 1 hour to get the highjackers 1 million dollars. In 2009, the highjackers asked for a little more, like 10 million. There were a few small differences, nothing major. Now I will admit, I haven’t seen the original yet. The people who have seen both movies, say that they prefer the original, but is that really shocking? How many remakes are better than original? Think on that one.
The movie is set in the “24” (Keifer Sutherland’s TV show) format, which you have to believe that all of this is possible in an hour. If you’ve ever been to New York, you know getting across town in less than an hour is a leap but hey, why not. You quickly let that go because you believe in the characters.
Overall, I will say the movie was good. I really enjoyed the action and the suspense. Now it’s not a big action movie like Terminator: Salvation or Transformers 2. If that’s what you’re looking for then you’ll be mad, but if you like a movie that makes you think, then The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is the one for you.
Grade: B -
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