KTKA

I have criticized the over abundance of Hollywood remakes because it's a lazy way of filmmaking by rehashing the same concepts without a bit of original imagination. The problem is some of these remakes are from movies made less than twenty years ago.

The latest to have the remake treatment is 'The Taking of Pelham 123' that was initially made in 1978 and starred Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and a host of others. The story is actually based on a successful novel by John Godey.

The remake deals with New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) who is just looking to make it through what seems to be a normal day. Things change when Ryder (John Travolta) and his heavily armed posse hijack a subway car full of passengers. His demands are simple one million dollars in ransom money per passenger. The money must be delivered to him within the hour and for each minute that it's late a hostage will be executed.

It's also learned that Walter is a dispatcher on this day because he's a demoted higher up in the subway system currently under investigation for taking a bribe. There is a mutual respect between the two that becomes more solidified when Ryder learns that the person on the other line could be as much of a criminal as he is.

'The Taking of Pelham 123' was a surprisingly exciting and entertaining film that moves at a frantic pace yet never loses its audience in the process. Director Tony Scott who can be an over the top lets blow everything up director restrains himself with this film and that's why it works. He lets these two Hollywood superstars take the reins and run with these characters which helped make this film as entertaining as it was.

Both Denzel Washington and John Travolta sink their teeth into their roles and seem to be having a blast on screen playing these characters. Travolta as he's proven in the past can play the villain very well and this is another example in what is his best role in some time. Washington is terrific playing his role to understated perfection to fit perfectly with Travolta's volatile bad guy.

My only worry is the movie might get lost in the overcrowded summer movie season where movie goers have to be more selective than ever due to economic times despite the powerhouse cast.

Having director Tony Scott at the helm I thought this movie would be an over long, inflated explosion filled bore fest that seemed to go on forever. Instead you grab your pop corn and soda, sit back for a tremendously entertaining movie with two of Hollywood's biggest stars giving audiences a real summer treat.