Considering that this film was directed by Andrew Davis who before this directed the hit film the Fugitive (1993), you would have thought he ought to put a lot of effort to making Chain Reaction to be just as great as the Fugitive. Unfortunately Chain Reaction just comes off as being a very plain mediocre film. When I originally first saw this film I had no clue what it was about but now since seeing it with a better perspective I now know what it's about, I suppose the story in this does work well but this film does have it's problems, I'm not saying this film is bad as it's watchable but it's very plain. The first problem in this film that comes to my mind is the music soundtrack, oh my gosh, talk about the wrong type of music for your film. Having the right music for your film is extremely important and the people that were behind the films musical design got it all completely wrong. In hindsight this is a chase film where the hero is wrongly accused of something he didn't do and is being chased by the police, but the scenes themselves are just "plain" and could have been better. I know I keep using the word plain but when I say this I don't mean it in a bad way, like I said the story does work well. Overall conclusion, it's a mediocre action film that's not bad but it's it's just...well...plain.
I think it was Roger Moore (or maybe Michael Caine) who, when asked about some rotten film he made, said he didn't recall the film but he did the house it paid for. Well, clearly that philosophy was not just limited to the 1970s. Here we have another such film featuring the slightly unkempt Keanu Reeves ("Eddie") who is working with fellow scientist "Lily" (Rachel Weisz) on some revolutionary green technological advances. Next thing, his father is found with a plastic bag over his head, things start exploding and the two are wanted by the FBI for murder, treason - just about every crime in the book. What now ensues is the usual manhunt drama with a truly off-form Brian Cox ("Collier") and a slightly more benign "Shannon" (Morgan Freeman - not playing the President this time) in hot pursuit. The plot is simple, yet the attempts to introduce red herrings - whom can they trust, etc? - merely serve to clutter it all up. Somebody somewhere decided this couldn't just be an action thriller, it had to have some worthier purpose. Well, I am afraid that just fell flat. Keanu is a handsome man, and in many, many of his roles that carries his somewhat limited acting abilities; well not here and Weisz doesn't really turn up either. That said, the production standards are decent, and there is plenty of action to keep the thing moving along but the formula is tired and I was pretty bored after the first fifteen minutes. The film managed to sustain that ennui quite successfully, too.
A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
Bourne is brought out of hiding once again by reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar, an upgrade to Project Treadstone, in a series of newspaper columns. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally uncover his dark past while dodging The Company's best efforts to eradicate him.
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
In a post-apocalyptic future where population control is dictated by a high-school aptitude test, two students discover the test is smoke and mirrors hiding a larger conspiracy.
Cicely Tyson was Emmy-nominated as Outstanding Actress for her portrait of a Chicago schoolteacher whose remarkable achievements with black children labelled "unteachable" were spotlighted in a 1979 "60 Minutes" segment about how she became disillusioned with the traditional school system and decided to work outside of it, transforming her students into young scholars through her unique teaching style.
After seeking to live a normal life, Logan sets out to avenge the death of his girlfriend by undergoing the mutant Weapon X program and becoming Wolverine.
The successful undercover agent Victor Cooper is assigned for his ninth mission: to find how the loadings of drug is being brought to Miami. He suspects that the drug is coming through the air and joins a team of sky diving, under the leadership of Red Line, a fanatic and considered the athlete number one in this sport in the world. Due to his profile of winner, Vic gets involved with the group and he "disconnects" from his position of infiltrated agent, "connecting" with the team.
Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.
Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.