Remakes. For better of worse they’ve been a staple of Hollywood for about a decade now (after Gus Van Sant’s '98 Psycho remake meant that nothing is sacred), they’ve been dressed up as ‘reimaginings’, ‘new visions’ and ‘reboots’ but ultimately they amount to the same thing- old idea, new talent. Tony Scott, king of the big bang since making a star of Tom Cruise in Top Gun, teams up with megastars Denzel Washington and John Travolta in The Taking of Pelham 123, a remake of a 70s film starring Walter Matthau.

Walter (Denzel Washington) is a middle-aged, slightly overweight man working as a controller for the New York subway network. His day takes an unexpected twist when a train is hijacked by the deranged-but-charismatic Ryder (John Travolta). Ryder uses Walter to convey his demands, via intercom, to the city’s mayor (James Gandolfini), and as the deadline for his ransom comes closer Walter must find out what is behind the plot, and stop it.

A very standard heist plot, sort of an office-based Die Hard with bits of Speed thrown in. It starts very well, with little secrets revealed as we go. It’s not exactly sophisticated but it’s well executed. That is until the final third when the film becomes a quite hokey, clichéd action film complete with cringe-worthy calls home, helicopters and machismo. Scott’s slick direction ties the whole thing together well, but without the depth or genuine tension it becomes just another action movie.

The two names involved should have movie buffs salivating. Washington made his name as the ultimate good guy, whilst Travolta’s mid-90s reinvention incorporated some OTT performances as a loveable lunatic in Face/Off and Broken Arrow. Like the plot, Washington begins well and his role as the ordinary man put in an extreme situation is very interesting. But given this, it’s very hard to take seriously when he then runs around New York with a gun in the final 20 minutes. Travolta is nowhere near as fun as he was in the fore-mentioned John Woo films, and whilst he is likeable there’s not a lot of menace to the weirdly-bearded criminal.

A limp finish caps off a project that promised so much but settled for less. It’s a perfectly acceptable action-thriller and those going in with low expectations will find the two hours pass by a little easier, but gaping plot holes and the notion that it could have been so much better will leave many with a bitter aftertaste.