Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
Whereas the original, directed by Joseph Sargent, was essentially a well-oiled B movie, the new incarnation, directed by Tony Scott, is bristling with high-tech gimcrackery and over-the-top camera flourishes.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
12 Jun 2009
rotten:
I was really disappointed by this.
– Ben Lyons,
At the Movies,
15 Jun 2009
fresh:
Washington demonstrates his really remarkable ability to make us forget he's a movie star and completely believe he's a flawed but noble civil servant.
– Ben Mankiewicz,
At the Movies,
15 Jun 2009
rotten:
Can a director be arrested for the attempted hijack of our emotions?
– Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
15 Jun 2009
rotten:
'The Taking of Pelham 123' is not a bad film: it's ponderous and shallow, but always watchable. But what it crucially fails to do, especially in the light of its illustrious predecessor, is justify its own existence.