A Very Good Film

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 1999)

Speed is a very good action film. Crashes, explosions, suspense...It's all there.
What isn't there is a lot of acting. The relationship between Jack (Keanu Reeves) and Annie (Sandra Bullock) is relatively weak. Many of their conversations are absolutely stale, as they sound like robots. Dennis Hopper, however, is amazing. There is no doubt that he does the best job in the movie.
Also, like most action movies, there are some hard to believe parts in the movie. First of all, how can you expect some woman to ride a bus cold turkey? Not very likely. If Hopper is such a smart villian, wouldn't he have thought of the police figuring out how to tape over the recorder in the bus? In the movie he practically wanted Jack to find out that there was a camera on the bus by calling Annie a "wildcat,"referring to the logo on her jacket of the University of Arizona. Plus, wouldn't he have thought about the paint in the money bag since he used to be a cop? There are other incidents which can be seen as doubtful like the bus flying 50 feet. However, that's what makes an action movie great...the impossible happening.
The poor acting at times doesn't take away from the story at all. The movie is a lot of fun, the music is great, and I would recommend anyone to rent the film.
I give it a 8 out of 10. -3 by poor acting by Reeves and Bullock, however, +1 for Hopper being a great villian.