| Running Time: 106 mins
Rated: PG-13 (G)
Andrew Davis has directed some of the great action movies in recent years, two of them being The Fugitive and Under Siege. What’s often most fascinating about a Davis flick is this: they are usually set in Chicago, and many of the bit players are the same. For instance, there are two actors (I can never remember their names) that have appeared in several Davis directed flicks as cops (The Fugitive, Code of Silence, Above the Law to name three), and there’s another guy that always plays the Channel 7 newsguy.
Anyway, what I’m getting at is that there is a comfort zone about a Davis action flick, everything is familiar and recognizable - sometimes whole shots are reproduced.
This story is very similar in structure to The Fugitive, with Keanu Reeves blending his character from Speed with Bill and Ted to give us Eddie Kasalivich, an engineering machinist who just happens to work on a fusion power project. When the team achieves success, suddenly this source of easy, cheap power puts Reeves and his co-star Rachel Weisz (who takes a very nice turn as a physicist) deep in the hurt locker as a shadowy government operation tries to get the secret, and keep it secret.
As Reeves and Weisz run from FBI agent Fred Ward (a pale imitation of Tommy Lee Jones), their only friend (and perhaps, greatest enemy) is a shadowy bureaucrat played winningly and with conviction, by Morgan Freeman. Will the young couple escape the feds long enough to save their skins and perhaps the world? Is Freeman’s character really good, really bad, or totally ambiguous? Can they really set off two fusion explosions in a single movie? Watch and find out.
While Reeves has certainly started to come around, acting-wise, I still find it sometimes surprising that he can fit so easily into the action mold. He is a fairly believably everyman action hero, and here, teamed with Morgan Freeman to lend stability and a little extra credibility to the production, he does well once more.
One joyful surprise was the effective and enjoyable performance by Rachel Weisz. She plays the research physicist with just the perfect blend of smarts and helplessness.
Director Davis trots out many of his ‘stock’ action set-pieces, but literally blows us away with some wild monster explosions and action set-pieces that are usually effective and exciting. The ending, however, tends to drag just a wee tad, leavening the tension just a little bit.
Overall, a successful entrant into the high-tech thriller game. Chain Reaction is no Fugitive, but it is very fun to watch, an excellent way to while away a couple of hours on a cold, snowy winter night. Enjoy! |
