Revolta (rev-olta): A John Travolta villain role that requires him to screams a lot, clench his teeth while talking, (usually through a cellphone or a walkie-talkie), and perform sudden acts of violence.

Somebody call John Travolta's agent and tell him to get him more of these roles. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is his best villain role.

I'll admit, John Travolta has played the villain well in one movie - Face Off . That movie had a well-rounded story and a good cast (sans Cage) and his outbursts weren't really Travolta, they were Travolta playing Cage's character. But if you put John Travolta in crap (Swordfish, the upcoming Old Dogs), he'll be crap. He's not one of those actors who can act himself out of a bad movie (Michael, Lucky Numbers...). Travolta's take on the villain is that he can go over the top. But he literally goes over the top. He plays the role so seriously that you can't help but laugh. Check out Broken Arrow and even certain scenes of Face Off. I've embraced the fact that his villain roles are unintentionally funny because he tries too hard to be unlikable and vicious. He clenches his teeth, screams a lot (usually through a cellphone or a walkie-talkie), and performs sudden acts of violence.

When I first heard last year that John Travolta was cast as the villain in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, I chuckled to myself. Was this going to be another "Revolta" role or something different? The movie's a remake and Denzel's going through the motions. But when I heard Adrenaline Maestro Tony Scott was going to direct it (also known as the older Michael Bay) my chuckled turned into a belly laugh. Scott doesn't know how to hit the pause button. Everything has to be fast paced and ready to explode, so like a mean guy with a pitbull who bites kids, he let him loose.

The movie doesn't waste any time in introducing characters - it happens almost in real time (this is Tony Scott we're talking about, so we get a countdown clock to heighten tension the movie wants to create). The first person we see onscreen is Travolta with his hipster sunglasses, his tattooed neck, and handlebar mustache, because mustaches are always menacing.

It's not until he starts his dialogue with Denzel that the movie really starts to crackle and causes the audience to cackle. This is Revolta if he drank 100 cups of espresso. It's his classic villain role magnified. It's almost like Tony Scott laughed at all his performances and told him to do a greatest hits with an exclusive special edition song. And that special edition song is called Motherfucker. Yes, Travolta uses this curse word excessively in this movie. If Hollywood had ever wanted to make a Motherfucker Movie, they already did with this.


Not only does he end almost every conversation with John Tuturro (unconvincingly playing a cop) with "motherfucker", he even uses it twice in a sentence ("Motherfuckers, motherfucker!") It's like writer Brian Hegland and Tony Scott had the same take on Travolta as we do here at Celebrity Outhouse.

The movie itself is paint-by-numbers. It was remade because Hollywood ran out of original ideas. Tony Scott doesn't even try to bring anything new to the movie - the passengers have little exchanges with each other and there's even a 9/11 reference ("We have to do something!" suggested by a passenger). Luckily, they didn't make the little boy on the train annoying. But they could have killed him just to be edgy. Instead Travolta says he'd make Denzel his bitch in prison.

The rest of the cast is dispensable. James Gandolfini wants us to believe he's versatile as the 'Mayor of New York' (with obvious nods to Guliani). Luis Guzman as 'Ramos' shows him slowly slipping into very minor roles. Denzel sits on his ass and gets paid millions (he gained 20-30 pounds of fat for the role, maybe he hung around Travolta).

The movie runs 96 minutes but Scott jam packs so much footage during the first 10 minutes that it feels like you've spent 2 hrs. in the theater by the time you get to Act 3. Are there twists? Nope. Does Revolta have ulterior motives? Yes. Does Denzel eventually leave the MTA control center and face Revolta? Yes. Should you run out and pay $11.50 to see Travolta do his greatest hits as a villain? Absolutely. The audience I was with was laughing their asses off throughout the movie. I think a large donation of this weekend's profits should go to the MTA to help lower our Metrocard rate next month. Otherwise all of us New York City motherfuckers are fucked, motherfucker!


"Motherfucker!"