Speed

Saw Speed, a much-loved blockbuster film that, while it doesn't have a lot to say about the human condition, it does have a bus jumping over 50 feet of missing interstate, which is probably enough.  The film starts Keanu Reeves as a sort of meat-head.  He's still got the doofiness of Bill and Ted but is here spouting one-liners and generally being a softer John McClain.  It's an interesting alchemy and I guess that's why he's now in action movies a lot.

The film is alright.  I prefer hysterics generally so this was not quite my cup of tea, but there's plenty of action-movie hijinks to keep you entertained.  The soul of the movie is in watching Keanu struggle against some new obstacle, the odds ever-lengthening against him.  After a while, it does get a hair contrived however.  For example (and I don't want to give anything away but...) after they get off of the bus, they then get onto a completely different out of control vehicle which they can't stop!

The film has a slow-burn romantic sub-plot to keep the film some momentum and stop it from descending into a meaningless challenge/solution series.  The struggles of the cops, also, to stop the out of control bus is fun to watch, as is the cat-and-mouse of the mad bomber vs Keanu and the cops.  A lot of it is transparently for the sake of spectacle however which I didn't like.  The famous gap-jumping scene is one of the more egregious in this regard.

Before the bus happens, there's a 20-minute elevator rescue sequence which I feel is a better version of this film: tight, taught, and exciting with the spectacular set pieces (that crane) deftly woven into the action.  I guess bottom line: this was a good film, just not meant for me.