Monday, April 20, 2009
Speed
**** Speed. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Jan de Bont
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels
Carl was gone last week (to Garmisch for a conference), so Camden and I did our usual movie-watching, trying to find ones I like that he's never seen. The first one we watched was Speed, because it's such a classic. After watching this, he enjoyed this Robot Chicken sketch even more.
Although even Camden, who's 14 and hadn't seen Speed before, knew the basic plot, here it is if you need it:
A bus has been rigged with a bomb that will blow it up if it goes below 50 miles per hour. It's up to police officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) and passenger Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) to keep the bus going and keep everyone safe.
Dennis Hopper is the terrorist demanding money in return for not blowing up the bus. Jeff Daniels plays Jack's partner, who handles the investigation back at headquarters while Jack's on the bus.
It remains a fun and exciting movie, even fifteen years later. The suspense is all physical--we're not trying to find out whodunit, or even why, really--just whether or not they're going to make it without blowing themselves up. It's like riding a rollercoaster. You're not really going anywhere, but boy, is it a lot of fun.
Neither Camden nor I was very impressed with Keanu Reeves, but that was okay--he didn't really have a lot of acting to do here anyway. And I did wonder why the heck there was so much debris on the airport runways. Having driven on Ramstein, where you have to stop, get out of your car, and check your tires for pebbles stuck in the tread before you're allowed to drive across a runway, I was really surprised by the large chunks of debris on a commercial runway.
But again, this isn't a movie that you analyze too much. You just go along for the ride (heh) and enjoy.
Categories: Movies, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, Movies
