I feel that with every decade Keanu Reeves has been acting, he’s always known for one movie. And it keeps piling up since he’s known for a whole lot. Such as being in: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure in the late 80s. Speed and The Matrix in the nineties. The crappy Matrix sequels in the 2000s. With the 2010s having him in the John Wick films. Keanu Reeves can do no wrong, sometimes. Speed is one of the best action films in the 90s.
1. Jack Traver
Of course, the film has Keanu Reeves! So he plays a cop named Jack Travers in the LAPD. We see him and his partner Detective Harry rescue people from a rigged elevator. They work well in tandem since they find bombs in the elevator. From there, we see them face the bomber Howard. I will get to Dennis Hopper in a bit, but he is just over the top crazy. Not campy and exaggerated, but a right side of psychotic. You know what, he just wants money.
The following day, Howard blows up a bus. He calls Jack and tells him that another is rigged. From there, he finds the bus and attempts to disarm the bomb. Jack is the 80s action star that’s in the 90s. Traver has his catch phrases and speaks in a very “actiony” way. Like, it’s a toughish accent that you have to watch the movie and you’ll understand. Either way, he is resourceful with attempting to stop the bomb.
Another thing I thought was that him and Harry were perfect to stop the bomb on the bus. Harry does help him over the phone via cell phone. Jack does get one passenger to help him, Annie Porter, played by Sandra Bullock. She’s supposed to be the regular person who is roped into something extraordinary. Annie becomes the driver and really adjusts to the situation. Well, gradually as the damn bus just barrels through just to survive.
This is another instance where our main character shows some emotion. Unfortunately, we do see his buddy die as Howard rigged his house to explode. Jack is crying and Annie gives him a pep talk to bring him back to reality. It’s a small moment but it gives our lead and us a break with what has been a literal crazy ride. Those small moments to at least have the main character show grief gives him more depth than just standard action hero.
One last thing is that Traver is pretty smart. He knows exactly how Howard operates. As Jack is figuring out how Howard is seeing everything that is happening, he realizes that he has a personal view of the bus from the inside. Traver uses his police squad and ingenuity to fool the mad bomber and to go under the bus to try to disarm it.
2. The Bus
The main highlight is that the bus has to go to a specific speed to not arm the bomb to explode. Annie has to floor it to the max speed the bus is built for. Now, this concept could’ve gone south if it was handled by someone less competent. Here, it’s the most intense, adrenaline filled moment that made me excited. Obviously, having pictures to show various shots of the bus doing the crazy driving does not do it justice in the least bit.
Inside though are the other passengers. They are also regular people caught in a middle of a madman’s quest just to get his money. What I really like is that not all of the passengers are innocent, two people completely flip, and one points a gun to our hero. Jack tries to calm him down, but another passenger grabs him to stop him from doing anything drastic. The motley crew follow orders by Jack and even cheer him on when they do a stunt that has the bus drive on its side.
On a more technical matter, the bus goes through the ringer. The vehicle rams through, jumps, even go around an airport runway just to maintain its top speed. The moments where Jack tries to get in the bus and even open the hatch to see the bomb gives the transport character in its own right.
3. Overall
I will say this, the sequel is so bad. Don’t for the life of you EVER watch it. Speed is one of those movies that should have been just a one movie thing. The sequel has a cruise liner, but no Keanu Reeves. Need I say more? Speed is the need you want to have a great time watching a great action movie.
Speed gets a four out of five.
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