The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Remake of the 1974 crime thriller which starred Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. This time John Travolta plays the villain seeking to take control of a New York subway train and hold the passengers to ransom while Denzel Washington plays the canny subway dispatcher trying to stop Travolta's threatened slaughter.

Nigel Andrews, Financial Times: Even when the film narrows to two men talking down a telephone, Scott doesn't let the camera rest. It whirs, fidgets and caroms around Washington's talking head, like a panhandler molesting people at a bus stop, while Travolta's face and physique become ever more motile and glittering... at every cutaway a gun-barrel flashing with menace. It is too much, but if you like Scott you can argue that too much is better than too little... If you can stand the pace - and find the stand-back moments to admire Washington's savvy onscreen cerebrating and Travolta's electrified, gonzo malevolence (his best performance in years) - you can watch this film happily through and take the required tranquillisers afterwards. (Verdict: three stars out of five)

Kim Newman, Empire: Travolta's villain is all over the place, tapping into the stockmarket figures on his laptop, snarling, "The mayor can lick my bunghole", shooting hostages like a psycho and throwing tantrums that make him seem less dangerous than deranged. Travolta's Ryder is such a flake you feel you're being set up, and this blundering idiot will be revealed as a mastermind whose irrational acts are part of a brilliantly worked-out plan. But no, he's just a nut. Washington is better, though he has to douse his natural charisma to play a put-upon, desk-sitting bureaucrat and coasts through another flat hero role. (Verdict: two stars out of five) ·