Need for (only 1) Speed

Rating: 8/10 (28 September 2013)

Hard to believe it's nearing 20 years since they released Speed. And it, pretty much, still holds up today.
This was just one of the long lines of very good to great movies that starred and was certainly not helped by: Keanu Reeves. At the time, he was the luckiest man in Hollywood, from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Speed to The Matrix. He got to be in the cream of the crop without having to show any depth or acting ability. Perhaps, that's what director Jan de Bont was looking for here: a soulless and cardboard cop and well, there you go.
Actually, the real star here was Sandra Bullock and this was her break-through role. She stole every scene, had the best lines and timing and looked stunning. Hell, even Dennis Hopper's juicy and fun Howard "anything but a" Payne was no match for Bullock. So, if you forget the forgettable Jeff Daniels and Joe Morton and, naturally, whiteout Reeves, the true stars were Bullock and Hopper.
They were so good, that even with the great amount of enormously enjoyable action, it's worth seeing just for them two.
Speed focuses on disgruntled Payne and when his terrorist plot of bombing an elevator – too bad he didn't pick the one from the terrible Devil movie – is thwarted by the cops (Reeves's Jack Traven and Daniels's Harry Temple,) Payne shifts to road wars. He rigs a bus that, once it hits 50 mph, it will explode if it slows below 50 mph. Luckily, for everyone on this LA bus, when the bus does hit 50 mph, it's navigated by shrewd, albeit rightfully scared, passenger Annie Porter and Traven, who happened to "catch the bus."
There are rules, of course – this is a 90s terrorist action flick, duh. No one can get off the bus, and Payne wants money for an undisclosed and anti-spoiler reason, or he'll blow the bus. Annie must pilot this bus through the already terrible LA traffic while the stiff, er, Jack figures out what to do.
Since the years, and now almost decades, since this came out, this movie's been dissected enough. Sure, there are huge plot holes, some even big enough to drive (or leap) said bus through – even at 50 mph, but if you sit back, leave your brain at the door, you can enjoy the ride. It's campy 90s action fare, and for those of us who loved it back then and still do, this is the movie for us.
I will say, I do have one huge problem with this. Okay, maybe not the original, but the sequel. STAY AWAY FROM (anything but) Speed 2: Cruise Control. That movie was a tragedy from beginning to end. And this kind of movie did NOT need a sequel. It was great as it was. Just have fun here and don't take the next bus.