Speed (1994) Review

Hearing Sandra Bullock’s character say, “This is really stupid,” in Speed reassured me that I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The formulaic, redundant, and redundant story follows police officer Jack Traven’s mission to save civilians aboard a bus rigged by a pop quiz-obsessed bomber — it’s very relatable. Nonetheless, outrageous premises can still produce great storytelling experiences if executed well, but Speed was not so lucky.

Because the script focuses so much on external action, it never provides Jack with any dimension: no area for growth, no intimate attachment to the plot, and, to be honest, no personality. Since I didn’t feel connected to Jack on a personal level, I didn’t care whether he succeeded or failed — the story didn’t matter to me.

I felt distanced from the characters and wasn’t invested in the film, so it was easy to identify the stereotypical plot mechanics, which dragged me out of the world of the film even more. Therefore, it failed to elicit any emotional response in me; a story cannot be heart-pounding if it does not have a heart. The screenwriter tried to fix this by abruptly adding a splash of romance at the end, but the result feels undeserved and unfulfilling.

Despite all of this, Speed was still amusing to watch. Why? Clichés are overused for a reason — they work! However, the film isn’t as entertaining as it could be because it has nothing to say and doesn’t know how not to say it. In other words, there is no need for Speed.