Chain Reaction (1996) Andrew Davis

Production Budget: $50 million

Worldwide Gross: $58 million

To anyone that reads this blog enough knows I like to review movies while they are still fresh in my memory. Obviously it helps to make the movie review more accurate. Unfortunately after I watched this movie there were a number of personal issues and blah blah blah it’s now been awhile. Suffice it to say I’ve now seen Chain Reaction about six times total and that is just about my limit for this movie.

Chain Reaction is about Eddie (Keanu Reeves), a machinist who is helping a group of scientists perfect a new clean renewable energy source. Just as they perfect the technology, hit men assasinate all the members of the crew except for Eddie and another scientist Lily (Rachel Weisz). Eddie and Lily are now on the run because of a shadow organization is trying to pin the murders on them and take the technology for themselves.

The director of this movie, Andrew Davis, also directed the Fugitive. I think that is a little relevant because I see Chain Reaction as a low rent Fugitive. You have low rent Richard Kimble being chased by low rent Tommy Lee Jones (Fred Ward) and all the while, both are trying to uncover the mystery behind it all. Except the mystery in this movie is nowhere near as interesting or complex as the Fugitive. In fact, it is almost odd that the movie all but tells you who the bad guy is in Morgan Freeman, and we spend half the movie trying to “figure out” that Morgan Freeman is the bad guy. Either the writers really think that little of us, or they made some error in thinking I really give that much of a crap. Either way, the story isn’t that good.

The movie seems more interested in giving us chase scenes of which there are plenty. We get a foot chase through city streets, we get a fan boat chase, we get another chase through a museum. But again, unlike Fugitive, these chases seem to strain all credulity in how Eddie gets out of these situations (I don’t think cops are that dumb). Speaking of straining credulity, Keanu Reeves outruns a nuclear explosion on a dirt bike. And yes, that scene is as dumb as is as dumb as it sounds.

The acting in this movie is serviceable. Both Reeves and Freeman play up to standard in their particular roles. I actually liked Fred Ward as the persistent gumshoe. Rachel Weisz though is completely wasted in this role though. At first she is set up as an intelligent independent woman, but by the time the action rolls around she is effectively Olive Oyl. She does nothing but stand around and wait to get saved by Eddie.

Now the science in this movie is utter crap but don’t get the impression I’m dismissing the movie just for that. I’m not. I’m dismissing the movie because it has an dull mystery plot, rather uninteresting (at least for me) action scenes, and no great performances. As I mentioned before, I have seen this movie multiple times. Most of the times I have watched it, it has been on the TV in the background as I am doing something else. So really there is nothing in this movie that I hate and I’ll even say as far as generic actioners go, it is serviceable. But to anyone wanting ANYTHING else than a bare bones (although scientifically stupid) generic actioner, don’t waste your time with this movie.