Derailed

Tony Scott botches the remaking of
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

ALL TUNNEL, NO VISION: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

by MATTHEW HAYS

So often a sense of sadness arrives with the news that a Hollywood studio is planning (yet) another remake of an old favourite. The chances are just so overwhelming, after all, that the chumps are going to wreck it.

The 1974 film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 stands as no classic, but it is a tightly woven, extremely well done hostage-taking movie. Interestingly enough, the feature didn’t do great box office overall, but drew huge crowds in cities with well-trodden public transport systems—like New York, London and Toronto. Whatever its merits, the idea of a group of subway passengers held hostage by a dastardly group of homicidal crooks touched a collective nerve. It moves along at a tremendously economic pace, cutting to the literal chase and holding us over the proverbial fire—a damn good movie, perfectly mindless but thoughtfully executed, and well worth a rental if you’ve never seen it.

And see it before you see the remake—which, frankly, should also be reserved for nothing more than a rental on a boring rainy night. Despite the presence of Denzel Washington as the heroic transport officer who takes the calls from the kidnapper, TTOP123 attempts to up the suspense ante but manages to muster very little of the earlier film’s appeal.

How can a premise this fun go so wrong? A bunch of freaked-out passengers on board a NYC subway train, an amoral kidnapper who vows to kill one hostage for every hour he doesn’t get the ransom he’s demanded, and an entire city hypnotized by the unfolding drama. John Travolta really doesn’t help as the bad guy. He’s just phoning them in at this point, and his grating evil shtick here feels almost as one-dimensional as his drag act in Hairspray.

Then there’s director Tony Scott’s familiar, annoying habits: lots of jerky camera movements, a loud musical score, choppy editing. If we really shake this thing up, he seems to be thinking, perhaps no one will notice just how weak it actually is. The new Pelham has its moments, I’ll give it that, but mainly it left me longing for the ’70s, arguably Hollywood’s last truly great decade.

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 OPENS
THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 12