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The Tak­ing of Pel­ham 123 sets Den­zel Wash­ing­ton as a MTA oper­a­tor against John Tra­volta as an urban ter­rior­ist using a train (Pel­ham 123) to get money. These two big named stars do what they’re known to do. They tell you where and what to focus on which is manily them­selves. Like a train, while there are many things tan­gen­tially hap­pen­ing on and around it, this films goes steadily for­ward towards its end. The women here (was there more than one?) are only impor­tant to the point that they affect one of the main actors. No one will win an Oscar for this remake. It’s not that kind of flick. You can see the plot twist from miles away like a bend in the track.

The truth is there is noth­ing orig­i­nal here. Even the parts that would make it a wor­thy thriller are some­what dulled. What’s left are two charis­matic actors you want to see that keep your eyes and ears fol­low­ing them until the movie’s end. Isn’t that what a movie should do? Even with Tony Scott direct­ing had there been two lesser actors in the roles of the main char­ac­ters, this movie might have had a chance to go straight to video. That’s not to say the movie is bad. On the con­trary, mis­takes and all, it’s worth rent­ing. It’s just not worth own­ing. Wash­ing­ton and Tra­volta put on a good show, just not an overly mem­o­rable one. I give this a 4 out of 5 marks.