The story has Walter Garber (Washington) as a train dispatcher, who is also being investigated for taking a bribe. He is watching the trains go by on his screen, smooth as silk, that its until something goes wrong. Pelham 1 2 3 starts acting strange. Garber watches it stop, unexpectedly, and then separate a few cars that proceed to move back down the track. He immediately gets on the mic and tries to ascertain what is going on.
Down on the tracks we find John Travolta, calling himself Ryder (rather than Robert Shaw's Blue), and his small group of merry men, including Luis Guzman. They are busy taking car of immobilizing the train, setting up their own monitoring and getting their plan underway. This is where the fun begins.
The movie is not terrible, but it is not all that awe-inspiring either. The good comes in the form of the give and take between Washington and Travolta, particularly from Washington's side of the microphone. There is plenty of give and take between the two as Garber tries to extricate himself from the situation while not getting anyone killed. Meanwhile, Ryder is bugnuts crazy, but crazy like a fox. The man may be something of a loose cannon, but he is also cold and calculating, he remembers his details and does not get tripped up. So, while it may not be the most intelligent of scripts, the performers do their best to inject a high level of intensity into it.
The story is a familiar one, so I do not feel the need to go into this in too much detail, suffice to say, the tension is there, and it will hold your interest. The problem is that when it comes to an end you will walk away and soon forget it, possibly wishing you'd stayed home and watched the original.
The good of the film lies almost squarely with Denzel Washington. I could watch the man read a phone book. I am not always his biggest fan, but there is no denying his ability to make a character compelling. He does a great job here making the character relatable and believable in the situation. I also liked Travolta about half the time. There were times when he had a nice brand of sly evil going that made him interesting. Luis Guzman also turns in a fine performance. The man is a chameleon.
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