Chain Reaction (1996)

Nice effects though.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take a few sci-fi leaps of faith, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.Chain Reaction (1996) is very underrated and trashed by critics. I am a big fan of Keanu Reeves and Andrew Davis and I like this film a lot. Before I go into this review I want to talk why I log in and write a review. After watching the new Keanu Reeves movie Knock Knock (2015) I have realized not only how god awful that movie was, but even Keanu Reeves sucked at acting in that movie. In this movie Chain Reaction he at least acted solid and in Knock Knock he did not! He made a fool out of himself and he gave us the worst performance of his life! There was a lot of movies he started it and they weren't that good but they were not awful either. Some people are complaining how god awful Chain Reaction is. Watch Knock Knock (2015) the new Reeves movie and you will see the results. Which is far the worst comparing to Chain Reaction. I rather watch this movie and I am taking Chain Reaction over Knock Knock!!!!! I like this film a lot but not because of only Keanu Reeves but because of Andrew Davis, I have enjoyed his awesome Action flicks and even this film is Rated PG-13 and underrated it still doesn't ruing my likeness for seeing this movie again. I have always enjoy it of watching this movie. Rachel Weisz co stars in this movie as opposite of Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves. 9.years later Keanu and Rachel teamed back together in Supernatural horror flick Constantine (2005). Overall I like this movie! I believe it is exactly what would happen if technology like this was released. I think this movie was smart and slick even for underrated film. The technology putting in here was really smart idea and it was fast paced. I still don't know what went wrong and why the critics panned this film?. It held together quite well and the action was perfect for the characters. The message is important and timely (was in 1996 as well). Morgan Freeman does a superb job.Chain Reaction is a decent film to watch and, ironically, it's topic is even more current now than it was back in 1996. Conspiracy theorists will love it. Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves make an excellent pairing and when you add such veteran character actors like Fred Ward and Brian Cox, you simply cannot go wrong. Rachel Weisz, while she's a great addition to this movie, seems like an odd pairing with Keanu Reeves. All in all, if you're looking for a great action movie, popcorn movie and conspiracy movie all rolled into one, you simply cannot go wrong with Chain Reaction. This mid 90's action/thriller from the director of The Fugitive and Under Siege features a post Bill & Ted alum Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. Fairly new Rachel Weitz and some other good character actors. Chain Reaction fills the hour & 40 min void with thrilling action and semi-suspenseful drama as this typical cat & mouse game plays out. Government conspiracy or cover-up or perhaps both are involved within this flick. A student machinist finds himself caught in a maze of murder, government cover-ups and hi-tech espionage while working on a ground-breaking scientific experiment. Eddie Kasalivich and Lily Sinclair are part of a team of scientists who have developed a revolutionary new source of energy. But no sooner have they finished celebrating their triumph, than their lab is destroyed and the head of their team killed. Named as the main suspects, Eddie and Lily quickly realize their only hope lies with Paul Shannon, a powerful and foundation head, who may or may not be on their side.That is the basic plot of this movie. It does involves of two students been a fugitives for a crime they did not commit. I am giving this movie a 7/10 it is not a perfect movie the best or one of the greatest movies of all time, but it is still solid and fun to watch!Chain Reaction is a 1996 American action film directed by Andrew Davis, starring Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Fred Ward, Kevin Dunn and Brian Cox. 7/10 Score: B Studio: 20TH Century Fox Starring: Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Fred Ward, Kevin Dunn, Brian Cox Director: Andrew Davis Screenplay: J. F. Lawton, Michael Bortman Story By Arne L. Schmidt, Rick Seaman, Josh Friedman Producers: Arne L. Schmidt, Andrew Davis Rated: PG-13 Running Time: 1 Hr. 47 Mins. Budget: $50.000.000 Box Office: $60,209,334

When the scientist leading the search for a new low cost energy source announces that he intends to give the discovery to the world he is looked on as a bit of an idealist but when a breakthrough leads to the energy source's discovery things quickly go bad for his team; he is murdered and his lab totally destroyed; another of his team vanishes, presumed to have taken stolen data to China and another two; Eddie Kasalivich, the man who made the breakthrough and Dr. Lily Sinclair, a physicist on the team find themselves on the run having been framed for murder and selling the data. The only man they think they can trust is Eddie's mentor Paul Shannon but he is in no position as the FBI are watching him almost as keenly as they are watching Eddie and Lily. If they are to survive they will have to get out of Chicago and find a safe way to meet Shannon; all the time avoiding various law enforcement agencies and more dangerous characters working for the shadowy organisation that killed the scientist and destroyed his lab.While this is hardly a classic thriller it is a lot of fun; there are impressive explosions, numerous chases, shootings and a constant sense that our protagonists could be caught, or worse, at any moment. Keanu Reaves does a decent job as Eddie and Rachel Weiss is fine as Lily; however it is Morgan Freeman who dominates proceedings as Shannon; a man we aren't sure whether or not can be trusted for much of the film. Brian Cox also puts in a fun performance as the obvious villain Lyman Collier. The story itself is fairly silly but it is well told and there should be enough action and suspense to keep most viewers entertained well enough. I wouldn't say this is a must see film but it is worth watching if it is on television and there is nothing better on.

Another good Keanu Reeves(as a machinist) thriller, and I must say the starcast is sexy! There's Rachel Weisz(a fellow scientist), Morgan Freeman(funds a secret science project), Brian Cox(as chairman of a secret research facility) and also Fred Ward(as FBI agent).I actually thought Chain Reaction would be a sci-fi thriller, but the sci-fi part isn't really there. We've only the beginning and the ending scene where some hydrogen reaction is shown. Rest of the movie is all about catch Keanu if you can! Rachel & he flees the cops, the FBI and some operatives intend on killing them while they try to expose the murky truth.Keanu, Rachel, Morgan and even Brian Cox are good. Also very good special effects, especially the massive explosion in the beginning which paves the way for the excitement that follows.Some of the disappointments included the ending bits. Keanu seems to easily find his way to a secret, heavily-guarded research facility, to not only rescue Rachel Weisz but also bring the entire kilometres-long facility crashing down to earth! That wasn't convincing. And also Rachel had a really weak role, as compared to Keanu or Morgan. Maybe that was the beginning phase of her career.Of course, it also bewilders me that Keanu also easily finds answers to fix the chemical reactions or even set it to explode if our bad guys don't turn back! I think I risk disliking the movie if I ask too many questions :p Verdict: Just leave your questions unanswered. You could like the movie & the suspense that way :-)

This is a reasonable movie about generating cheap electricity and the politics behind it. It begins with a professor and his team working out a method of extracting hydrogen from water to use this as fuel. Every time the experiment is run the reaction becomes unstable, until Eddie Kasalivich (Keanu Reeves) finds the correct frequency. After the experiment has succeeded, we see the professor and Shannon (Morgan Freeman) arguing. Later the entire facility is destroyed and eight city blocks are annihilated in what seems to be a nuclear explosion. Eddie and Lily Sinclair (Rachel Weisz) are framed for espionage and decide to run from the police.The movie then falls into one and a half hours of running away from police. One could term this as action, but ends up to be quite dry. What resurrects the dead movie is the mystery of who Shannon is. At first he seems to be a scientist, and then we learn that he is the head of a scientific group called the Moore Foundation and that he has some powerful contacts in the government. He has a huge house, limousine and access to top secret bases. At first it seems that the FBI are the bad guys but we learn that greater powers are leading them around.The main theme here what should be done with cheap electricity. If we find a way for producing it should we keep it hidden from people or should we distribute it all over the world. The industrialists do not want this as cheap electricity base purely on water will cause huge economic chaos. With the petroleum companies some of the most powerful companies in the world, their collapse, it is feared, will bring about a complete social collapse. Beyond this, the owners stand to loose out if their fossil fuel was to become obsolete.Chain Reaction didn't grab me on the video shelf and the only reason I hired it was because Jackie Chan was out and my sister didn't want to watch Lost World or The Saint. I'm not that interested in Lost World but it was something. Chain Reaction is a movie one should hire if there is nothing else available.