The Taking of Pelham 123 cinema review

The Taking of Pelham 123 is an exciting film about a group of criminals who take over a train and hold its passengers as hostages.

John Travolta stars as Ryder who has recently been let out of prison and is now the ringleader of the train hijack. Along with his gang of miscreants, he terrorises the passengers and demands a heavy ransom which has to reach him on time or he threatens to start shooting the people on the train.

An unsuspecting train dispatcher (Denzel Washington) finds his day taking a very unexpected twist as he has to quickly learn how to negotiate with terrorists while keeping the situation calm and the train passengers alive.

Pelham 123 is a really gripping film and John Travolta is perfect as the unhinged and humorous Ryder. The relationship between his character and Garber (played by Denzel Washington) is really interesting to watch as it develops over the course of the film. The film focuses mainly on these characters but, this doesn’t harm the plot at all as they are both well cast and have great chemistry, resulting in a great watch.

Orphan cinema review

It’s difficult to know where to start with this film and I can’t quite make up my mind whether I liked it or not as Orphan is horrifying and disturbing but also strangely gripping.

Orphan is about a couple who are looking to adopt an older child as an addition to their family after loosing their baby. At the orphanage they meet Esther, a 9-year-old girl originally from Russia, who appears to be a very talented and intelligent girl who is a little bit different to the other children.

John and Kate decide to give Esther a chance and they take her home with them to join their young family. Everything seems to be perfect to begin with as Esther is sweet and polite but, strange things soon start to happen around her and Kate becomes suspicious. Kate tries to express her concerns to husband John but, he just can’t see things the same way until it’s too late.

The plot for this film is intriguing but, can be a little difficult to swallow in places. The opening sequence, for example, is very hard to watch and seems a bit insensitive and unnecessary, and there are sections throughout which are also unsettling. However, despite some of the horrible content, the film still keeps you tensely on the edge of your seat and wanting to know what happens next.

I wouldn’t recommend this film to most people as it is a little bit shocking and it should probably have a higher certificate than a 15 but, for those who do chose to see it, expect to leave the cinema very unsettled.