Chain reaction

Year of release : 1996

Run time : 1h47m

Genre : Action / Thriller

Cast : Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox

A team of scientists from the University of Chicago work on a project to convert the hydrogen from water into clean energy.

As the team celebrates their new discovery, dr. Paul Shannon and dr. Alistair Barkley debate if they should make this public. Shannon is against it.

The same night, Eddie,our lead, offers to take dr. Lilly Sinclair home, as she's drunk, first of all, and her car won't start.

When he comes back for his bike, he sees a van leaving the premises. He discovers dr. Barkley was k1lled in a way to look like suicide, while another doctor, Lu Chen, is missing. He leaves in a hurry,realizing the place is about to explode, taking down a few blocks.

After the explosion he is being interviewed by the FBI, who start thinking him and dr. Lilly Sinclair responsible for dr. Barkley's death and the lab explosion,due to planted evidence found in their homes.

 

The two are on the run, but they trust in Shannon,who tells them at first to give themselves up to the FBI.

Things might not be what they seem, and Shannon might have hidden motives for helping them.

I personally found the movie entertaining. The movie is fast paced, there's never a dull moment, the two leads are chased on land, water and sky, and shot at, while being blamed for what others do to them.

But,it didn't make sense when it comes to the science ,as they keep on giving us contradictory statements, and also I didn't get what the title Chain Reaction had to do with what's happening in the movie, as it makes no sense.

The movie had beautiful architecture and interior design, although it seemed to have been a very cold winter (even Morgan Freeman said he got sick, as he doesn't do well in the cold. Rachel and Keanu had to walk through a lake up to their waist, and I wonder if that was shot outside in the freezing water or in the studio) .

I personally liked the acting, although the cast and Keanu himself were nominated at the Razzie Awards for Worst Actor.

I'm guessing Morgan Freeman's character was a cigar smoker, as the man is always with the cigar in his hand or his mouth (while walking to anywhere, in the car..while doing experiments!), although it's never lit!

 

I didn't like the soundtrack.

The movie received negative reviews, and it made only 60 million dollars against a budget of 50!

It seems whenever Keanu plays with Rachel the script changes, as he said, in the original script his character was married, hence the relationship he had with Rachel's character being strictly professional, although they go through so much. The same thing happened in the movie Constantine (2005), in which Michelle Monaghan's scenes,who played a d3mon he was dating, were cut out.

Rachel also ends up with her clothes on in the bath tub, with Keanu standing beside her(Constantine again).

You can watch the full movie here for free :

https://www.tokyvideo.com/video/chain-reaction-keanu-reeves-morgan-freeman-1996

Rating : Worth a watch !