With all of the success surrounding John Wick Chapter 2 at the box office this weekend, I decided to hop on the Keanu Reeves train.

Speed is the epitome of what action films should be – a non-stop thrill ride. Made in the ‘90s, the movie follows the story of hot shot police officer Jack Traven, who has to try to get people off a bus that cannot go below 50 miles per hour or else the bomb on the bus will explode.

Keanu Reeves, who plays Jack Traven, ends up getting on the bus and slowly forms a bond with the passengers as he tries to protect them as the villainous former corrupt cop Howard Payne played wonderfully by Dennis Hopper tries to make the bus explode. Sandra Bullock also appears in one of her first major roles that put her on the map as Annie a passenger on the bus who helps Jack try to solve the problem. All of them give great performances and have believable chemistry that helps make the film feel realistic.

The focal point of this movie is, of course, the action scenes.  All of these action set pieces are done really well as they use a lot of practical effects and don’t rely too much on CGI.  You can tell that Director Jon de Bont really wanted to make these three action set pieces the focal point of the film as he chooses to revolve the films plot around these set pieces. And they do some really cool stunts in this film. Whether it is jumping a bus over a giant break in the road or rescuing people from an abandoned elevator shaft, the action scenes never fail to entertain.

This movie, although cheesy at times,  really keeps you entertained and glued to your seat as it is pure popcorn action fun. Speed did a lot of things that helped shaped action movies we see today by bringing an out of the box and realistic idea for a thriller that could actually happen in real life. Speed is easily one of my favorite action movies because of the premise. It’s simple but it is super interesting and effective.This film is a quintessential action movie that showcases three raw and great performances from Bullock, Reeves and Hopper. While also providing highly entertaining adrenaline filled action scenes that make the movie ahead of its time.