Super Speed!

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2009)

Speed is a suspenseful thriller that features Officer Jack Traven, an L.A.P.D specialist (Keanu Reeves) and Detective Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels) who both battle against a rather bitter villain ex cop, Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper)
Payne (Hopper) produces a revenge attack by planting a bomb on a bus that has the potential to kill thousands of innocent people. It's up to Officer Jack Traven (Reeves) to prevent the bus from exploding. He does this amazingly by boarding the bus and keeping the speed above 50mph. He also has to deal with terrified passengers which he finds isn't an easy job at all. Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) is a passenger on board of the bus and she takes control as the driver. She controls the bus with an obvious wisdom of horror but also with a strong sentiment of authority. Reeves character puts his trust into Annie immediately and they are both able to support each other in many life or death situations that occur. Jack Traven (Reeves) and Annie (Bullock) form a comforting bond which really helps them both whilst they are in the middle of a crisis. Payne(Hopper) is simply greedy for money and wants Traven (Reeves) to provide the money for him - before he starts taking away people's lives, and he will do so with no hesitation. There is not a second of wasted screen time which just makes it a spectacular film to watch. The film is very enjoyable and includes intense situations that are simply breathtaking. "Speed" has been correlated to "Die Hard" because it features vulnerable hostages that are surviving from a heroic figure. What I enjoyed about this film is that it had a mixture of suspense and humour featuring fast moving shots and a killer sense of hilarity with various unexpected plot twists!
However, there were parts of the film appeared to be a little unrealistic and it seemed that more research ought to have taken into position before shooting, or shouldn't have been included in the final edit at all.. I found myself questioning the logic during certain scenes considering it is classified as a realist film. The acting isn't exactly perfection at times either; with a lot of lines being delivered gave me a cringe worth reaction.
Payne (Hopper) portrays a very realist villain and I was impressed with his performance. His malevolency antics are quite simply worrying as he appears to be invincible, even though he's just sitting at his residence relaxing with his feet up. Harry Temple (Daniels) attempts to go after Payne (Hopper). Its a challenge to find out Payne's identity but he manages to do so, which is risky business and and finds out how dangerous Payne (Hopper) really is.
Jan de Bont directed "Speed" as his debut whilst previously switching from cinematography on other films, including "Die Hard". I was very impressed with his efforts taking into consideration that it was the first time in full charge. The film was written by Graham Yost, who could also be considered as a fresher, as "Speed" was the first film he wrote, prior to writing TV shows.
To finish up, I did enjoy this film and I imagine many others will too. Don't have any doubt about watching this. Its not a must see film, but its enjoyable to say the least. So, if you ever have 111 minutes to spare in your life then the best thing to do is resort to "Speed". The film, not the drug.