Chain Reaction isn't dull -- the film is paced to keep audiences attentive -- but the lack of originality dampens its enjoyability.
Chain Reaction
1996 · 1h 47m · PG-13
Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
Directed by
Andrew Davis
Overview
At the University of Chicago, a research team that includes brilliant student machinist Eddie Kasalivich experiences a breakthrough: a stable form of fusion that may lead to a waste-free energy source. However, a private company wants to exploit the technology, so Kasalivich and physicist Dr. Lily Sinclair are framed for murder, and the fusion device is stolen. On the run from the FBI, they must recover the technology and exonerate themselves.
Director and cast
- Andrew Davis Director
- Keanu Reeves as Eddie Kasalivich
- Morgan Freeman as Paul Shannon
- Rachel Weisz as Dr. Lily Sinclair
- Fred Ward as FBI Agent Leon Ford
- Kevin Dunn as FBI Agent Doyle
- Brian Cox as Lyman Earl Collier
- Joanna Cassidy as Maggie McDermott
- Chelcie Ross as Ed Rafferty
- Nicholas Rudall as Dr. Alistair Barkley
- Tzi Ma as Lu Chen
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
[Chain Reaction] has better acting, better writing, more spectacular chase sequences and more genuine drama than all of this summer's blockbusters.
It's not a bad film in individual moments and in the energy of itsperformances, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
The movie is so uninvolving that it inspires renewed respect for Broken Arrow, which was equally stupid but excitingly filmed.
The narrative is very complex, but what's on the screen is little more than generic, non-narrative-specific, guy-being-chased stuff.
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