Chain Reaction

In 1996, a movie called Chain Reaction was released, directed by Andrew Davis, written by at least 5 people, principle stars are Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Morgan Freeman, Fred Ward, Brian Cox, and some minor characters that would be recognized. This is a movie that for a long time was a feel good movie for me, but having revisited it, I still like it.I'm not a big fan of action movies, mostly because of the cliches. There's always going to be explosions, chase scenes, murder, low character development, and a kiss at the end. Well, Chain Reaction is an action movie that has some of these cliches, but not all. There are two big explosions (one that takes up half of Chicago) and the whole movie is a chase. There is murder, there is low character development, but there is no kiss at the end. For once, something is broken!

This movie is the story of a group of scientists and students who are creating a cheap clean energy fuel source from hydrogen. They get it to work, and the party begins, but danger is soon afoot when Keanu's character Eddie returns to the site to get his motorcycle. He discovers someone has killed his mentor and set the hydrogen furnace to meltdown. He escapes just in time for it to blow up half of Chicago. What follows is a non-stop chase from Chicago to rural Wisconsin, to Washington DC, to rural Virginia. Rachel Weisz plays as Keanu's associate on the project; Fred Ward plays as the FBI agent tracking Keanu; Brian Cox plays as the leader of C Systems and the head antagonist of the movie; and then there's Morgan Freeman, who is part of the research team, but he's also with C Systems, and he's kind of good, and kind of bad. The main idea behind this story is ecology. In trying to find a cheap source of renewable energy, the research team is trying to help the world become cleaner. Of course, capitalism won't let something go free, so a corporation tries to suppress the technology by killing off it's members and abducting the rest to show them how it works. The idea was that since America is so dependent on fossil fuels, such a technology would put a lot of people out of business and create a national recession. They would instead introduce the technology slowly, and get rich off it.

I find this movie very interesting for it's message hidden in an action movie. There is a lot more to this movie than just a silly action flick. I believe that if this movie was released today, it would have been more popular than it was in the mid-90's. In fact, this movie bombed upon release. I think it's not a bad flick that's worth checking out. The dialogue alone I think it worth checking out, especially Morgan Freeman's. In fact, the best thing about this movie is Morgan Freeman. I think this movie was a little ahead of it's time for its message not only about ecology, but about the suppression of free energy and hidden government installations that even the lawmakers don't know about. It all adds up to a rather good action movie with an actual meaning.

Of course, it's not all good. The character development is very poor, but that's what action is about. And there are murders, yes, but no more than necessary. There are explosions, but hardly any. And best of all, there is no kiss at the end. Sometimes with action movies, there is this kiss at the end, which is the cliche of cliches. After such a crazy adventure, they have to end it on a kiss, which presumably starts a post-movie romance. But notice in the sequels, the woman is rarely still around. Well, this movie had no sequels, but at the end, there was no kiss, and in my opinion, logically, there couldn't have been one. They were friends, and just associates, so there was no romance there; just a friendship. A kiss at the end would have made this whole movie for me seem unbelievable.

Overall, I recommend this movie. An action movie, but an action movie that's believable (take note Michael Bay!) One thing to check out is the music score by Jerry Goldsmith; at times, it's reminiscent of Thunderball (James Bond movie from 1965). This is a movie with a message, and a movie that one can sit back and be entertained by. A hidden movie from the mid-90's.

(One last note: it's been said that Keanu Reeves elected not to make Speed 2: Cruise Control, and instead chose to make Chain Reaction. It's also been said that he chose not to make Speed 2 because of his band. Either way, I think it was a good choice not to make Speed 2.. cliche heaven!)

Here is a link to the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abl-kJfDI58