I had recorded this one on DVR a few weeks ago after noticing it was scheduled to be on and seeing that it starred Keanu Reeves. I was unimpressed by the John Wick series (at least the two movies of it I've seen), but I figured I ought to give some of his other work a chance, him being a famous actor and all. And this movie presented itself.
I have to say, this one did a much better job of showcasing Keanu's acting talents and range. (I also think he looks better clean shaven) He really doesn't talk much in the John Wick movies; he mostly just kills people and his character doesn't seem particularly developed or to have much depth, even though he is the main character. After awhile, I got to thinking, why didn't his character in John Wick just kill *himself* as opposed to all the other people? It is left unspecified. Those movies are pretty much only good for watching Keanu's character kill a bunch of people; there is very little depth to the plot, in my opinion. His character does get a fair amount of facial cuts, which reminded me of a post I did years ago analyzing facial cuts in various movies... I've digressed.
The premise of Speed has to do with bombs and terrorism -- a bomber sets various bombs and is in a game of suspense against Keanu's character, a SWAT team member with the LAPD named Jack Traven, who is working to disarm the bombs and save civilians held hostage by them. At first, I assumed his last name would be pronounced rhyming with raven, but it actually rhymes more with haven('t). It is a very suspenseful and thrilling movie but it's also very well done, quite well-written. The scenarios presented in the movie happen to mean Keanu gets to express a wider range of emotions and tones in the character of Traven. The stakes in this movie feel more realistic and therefore more engaging compared to the John Wick series.
Even though it's an action movie which you don't generally expect to have that much depth, it was somewhat surprisingly a bit thought-provoking. There's even a little bit of a media ethics angle in there you could contemplate. It made me wonder what it might be like to be in a situation like the one(s) depicted in Speed. It also kind of made me think my life isn't thrilling enough, but on the other hand, maybe that's actually a good thing.
I was contemplating rewatching Shattered Glass today instead, but I don't know where my DVD copy of that is. That's a good one too though. Maybe Keanu is known for starring in action movies; I'm not entirely sure. I'd be willing to watch some of his other work beyond this, particularly anything that's a little more drama-based, not action. I do wish Keanu had more non-action movies in his filmography because I wouldn't mind watching more of him as an actor, but at a glance, it doesn't really look like it.
In terms of the types of roles/movies an actor has been in aligning with my tastes in film genres, I'd say Jake Gyllenhaal or Peter Sarsgaard's filmographies fit fairly well. James D'Arcy too, but I haven't watched any of his movies that recently. Somewhere I have (had?) a list where I wrote out which films I'd seen starring specific actors, but I don't have that handy right now. It would be interesting to maybe track/analyze that a bit more closely.
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