Chain Reaction (1996)

Chain Reaction has the same director as The Fugitive, some of the same actors as The Fugitive and it has a similar feel to The Fugitive but this movie is NOT The Fugitive. It's a bland copycat with a confusing plot, terrible dialogue and a heavy-handed environmental message. It had some entertaining moments, but the rest of the movie is pretty much just Keanu Reeves running away from things.

I've seen plenty of bad movies, but, by gum, this was just one of those films which totally turned me off, so I'll make my review short. I guess the thing which annoyed me the most was the amount of money spent on a film which achieves so little. Definitely one of the many low points in Keanu's acting career (THE MATRIX was still three years away), this film presents him as the world's most unlikely scientist, a braindead dope whose survival until the ending of the film is simply preposterous. Morgan Freeman isn't served much better, and definitely shouldn't be appearing in junk like this if he wants his career to stay afloat.The plot is minimal, and basically it's all one big cat and mouse movie with some poor CGI explosions. Frankly, the action isn't handled very well so many scenes are repetitive, a surprise considering that director Andrew Davies made some really exciting films with THE FUGITIVE and UNDER SIEGE. The violence is tame too, and this is nothing we haven't seen before. Ultimately a big disappoint, CHAIN REACTION is shallow, empty, stupid and pointless. Avoid unless there is absolutely nothing else on television to watch, and for god's sake don't buy it!

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

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 :-)