Posted: 02/12/2011

Speed Review

by Robert Baum

Review: Speed (1994)

Some might dread the thought of knowing the only one who can save the day is Keanu Reeves. There are those, like myself, who thought the same more than a few years ago when a small screen smart aleck made his entry into big screen action heroics. Bruce Willis proved many naysayers wrong with Die Hard—myself included. Reeves too makes his foray into action in the implausible but enjoyable thrill ride Speed.
Jack Traven (Reeves) and partner Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels) are among the cops called in on a potentially lethal mission. An elevator has been booby trapped. The cops manage to rescue those trapped in the car and foil the plans of the architect of the sinister stratagem (Dennis Hopper, Reeves’ co-star in 1987’s The River’s Edge). The cops kick back with a few celebratory beers and presume the mysterious mayhem maker to have been done in by one of his own devices.
The next morning following a brief jaunt to a java joint, Traven witnesses a bus explode. A phone call alerts him that his adversary is still alive. The cop is told by his foe that he has wired a bomb to another bus which will, once armed, explode if it drps below fifty miles per hour. Wasting no time, Traven locates and boards the bus. He alerts the driver and riders of the potential peril; and gets help from a plucky passenger (Sandra Bullock) who fills in for the injured driver.
Like Willis, unlikely action hero Reeves makes for a credible presence as a cop. Unlike Willis, Reevs has a more limited range though clearly (or hopefully) will prove himself more capable of such in future roles. Bullock makes for a sweet sometimes sassy heroine struggling to keep her wits about her at the wheel of the mobile bomb.
As Reeves’ foe, Hopper steals the show as yet another angry lunatic. Though he is clearly no Alan Rickman, the suave malevolent mastermind of Die Hard. Hopper almost seems to be hamming it up later in the film.
While the film is lacking in originality and plausibility—and goes on a bit too long—as it borrows from The French Connection (1971) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) many audiences will eat it up. Though this feast is clearly of a fast food type recycled from previous meals. Remember though that summer is the time for major studios, Twentieth Century Fox (which released Die Hard and its sequel) in this instance, release such fare hoping to devour the dough spent by audiences and all but bank on repeat business.
Speed is just the latest Die Hard wannabe following in the steps of Under Siege (1992), Passenger 57 (also 1992), and Cliffhanger (1993) While it has a premise which stretches credibility like silly putty—as did the others—it is an exciting and lively actioner. Jan de Bont, cinematographer of Die Hard, makes his directorial debut with Speed. Clearly he brings a keen eye for action with him on this assignment.

Robert Baum is Currently a Bryn Mawr, PA-based film afficanado and pop culture junkie.

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