Screenhead

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 came in third Friday with The Hangover and UP remaining high, respectively, at the box office. I am interested in see what happens during the course of the weekend. Pelham could make it to second place because it’s not far from Up.

Popularity: unranked [?]

I’ll preface my remarks today by saying that I’ve never actually ridden in a subway car before.  It’s one of the consequences of not spending a lot of time in big cities, or as I like to call them, giant urban death mazes.  But I DO know at least a little something about how they work, which is why I can easily describe The Taking of Pelham 123, featuring Denzel Washington and, from literally out of nowhere, John Travolta (I was not aware he still had either a. a functioning career or b. sufficient bribe money left to get INTO a movie).

Despite my astonishment at the revelation that Travolta still has a functioning career as an actor, I have to admit that I did like The Taking of Pelham 123, which has only just opened about three hours ago, or  may be just barely opening if you’re on the west coast.

Anyway, this one’s about a dastardly plot to hijack a subway car in New York City, car number 123 on the Pelham Bay route.  After a series of careful and well-executed maneuvers, car 123, now jam-packed full of hostages, is parked in a tunnel in the middle of the subway system.  A cadre of gunmen, aided by a former New York City motorman, is holding onto the train until a sizable ransom is paid for the hostages’ safe release.  A train dispatcher is trying valiantly to keep the hostage takers talking, until something can be done for the hostages, but there are plenty of plots at work here, and the one the police are actively trying to unravel may not even be the MAIN plot.  So can the train dispatcher and New York’s finest manage to save a subway car full of hostages?  And if they do, will it even matter in the long run?

I compare The Taking of Pelham 123 to a subway car for a very good reason.  Both start very slow and take a good long while to fully escalate.  In fact, for about the first hour or so, all I could think was: “When are these two putzes going to stop TALKING so something interesting can actually, you know, HAPPEN??”   I’m not just being facetious there, either–most of the first hour of The Taking of Pelham 123 is going to be Denzel Washington talking into a microphone from his dispatch center while John Travolta responds into what looks like a CB radio from the train.  Just talk, talk, talk–let me take a moment here to address the writers.  You’ve GOT to break up your exposition a little more.  Otherwise you get this thick infosludge that everyone’s got to choke down before they can get to the good stuff.

And there will be good stuff in this movie too–lots of chases and gunplay and plans going wrong and plans going right and twists and turns and chicanery and everything else you want in a good old fashioned suspense / thriller movie.  It’s all here and it’s all nicely done.

Of course, there’s not a whole lot of specific reason to see this one in theatres.  There are a couple of really choice car crashes but nothing so spectacular that your home theatre won’t deliver a satisfying experience.  If you’re not in the mood to hit the theatre, rest assured that you won’t miss much by letting it go to video.  But if you DO go to the theatre, you should have a nice time of it.

The Taking of Pelham 123 will deliver the goods, but expect delays.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tony Scott makes this film rock! Travolta and Washington move in motion together despite never having a scene together.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Fantastic Trailer!!! If the movie is anything like the trailer, it will roll at the box office.  Good job Tony Scott!!

Popularity: 1% [?]