Star Power isn’t Enough to Put ‘Pelham 123’ on the Express Track

taking-pelham-1-2-3-posterYou usually don’t come across an action film that relies more on the strength of its characters than the action itself, but that’s exactly the case in “The Taking of Pelham 123.”

Relying heavily on strong performances from Denzel Washington [Training Day, Remember the Titans] and John Travolta [“Broken Arrow,” “Get Shorty”], “The Taking of Pelham 123” manages to break the mold of the action genre, utilizing a realistic script and equally as earthy action, making it a less spectacular, but nevertheless entertaining addition to theaters this summer.

Because of this, it’s more intriguing and surreptitious than jaw-dropping, making it difficult to recommend to those looking for spicy and over the top action.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile piece of cinema.

The star power doesn’t end with Washington and Travolta however as the supporting cast is filled with talented and capable actors. John Turturro [“Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” “The Bronx is Burning”], Luis Guzman [“Count of Monte Cristo,” “Anger Management”], Ramon Rodriguez [“Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen,” “Pride and Glory”] and Michael Rispoli [“Invincible,” “The Sopranos”] give the film a well-rounded feel and allow the plot to progress without having the film’s two stars glued to the screen for every second.

The same thing goes for the performances of James Gandolfini [“The Sopranos,” “All the Kings Men”], who nails the chubby version of New York City Mike Bloomberg to a T and John Benjamin Hickey [“Flags of our Fathers,” “The Bone Collector”], who plays the deputy mayor who seems better for the mayoral job than his boss.

In spite of their on-screen prowess however, you’ll be begging for Washington and Travolta to continue their journey together. That in a sense is what “The Taking of Pelham 123” is all about.

It is on the strength of these two actors that the film is able to fight its way above the mediocre and give the story the charisma it needs to survive. Making the viewer feel that the situation Washington finds himself in could happen to anyone, “The Taking of Pelham 123” achieves its goal in making for a compelling work of cinema. Through Washington’s interaction with Travolta, it’s easy to see what director Tony Scott’s[“Man on Fire,” “Domino”] message was here- the separation between good and evil is such a minuscule one that its a waste of time to pick sides- one can find themselves on either side at the drop of a hat.

Seeing the interaction and banter of Williams and Travolta throughout the movie, with millions of dollars and over a dozen people’s lives at stake simply confirms this and keeps us awaiting for the climax where it comes to an end. The action may be free of super thrills, but it is realistic, yet unpredictable, making it different from the plethora of cookie cutter action flicks to grace theaters over the past few years.

Is it the new “Training Day”? No, but it’s far from anything along the lines of “Crank,” or “Jumper.”

As a matter of fact, it’s heart of the film that ends up breaking the stalemate when the action isn’t as enthralling as it could have been. Because of that element alone, it’s a different kind of movie. While it lacks the flash and whistles needed to be considered a sure-fire hit and get on the express track, it manages to make all its stops on time and does so in a timely and engaging manner.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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