Speed (1994)

I don’t believe that a poorly laid-out plot such as this one was actually allowed to become a movie. It is inconceivable to think that the money and magic of Hollywood special effects, glitz, and glamour can be used on a story as simple and TV movie-ish as this one. You just can’t make a pig look cute no matter how much makeup you put on it.

After a while, Reeves becomes downright annoying. The protagonist’s “I am now here to help you and save the day, ma’am” attitude got me sick after a while and just too generic a hero for the audience to idolize, support, and follow in a movie. Hopper was a little better as the mad bomber, but pretty much the entire movie was unspectacular. The only thing that made this movie almost worthwhile were the action sequences, but even those were clicheed, predictable, and not very thrilling. In one of the film’s pivotal moments, how did that bus magically hop up an extra two or three feet as it flew off the highway construction? Most action movies can get away with minor technical flaws in the special effects department, but using this one at a climactic moment in the movie was so bad it hurt my eyes.

I guess the reason this movie did so well at the box office was because it satisfied the entertainment aspect of the audience with cheap thrills. I don’t believe this movie at all used film as an art form. And the entertainment aspect of it didn’t appeal to me, either.