Exit Speed
Whenever I sit down to watch a movie, be it purposefully for this website’s critique or during my own leisure pursuits, the certificate of commendation that I hand out to the movie is based on my ability to be entertained and the experience in general. It is more or less safe to state, that what remains the most important requirement for you as well when watching a movie. However, once in a while, depending on the type of movie that I happen to be in the mood for, I have higher expectations.
For instance, when I decide to view a horror flick, I expect to be frightened or shocked at least a few times. Another expectation I have though is not related to any genre of a particular movie I am watching, is the expectation of seeing the characters getting into serious troubles. For one reason, it is trouble that the characters most of the time encounter which creates depth and dramatic excitement. A more personal reason, I guess the reason is that it is because it makes me feel more comfortable having actors get into trouble.
I came to the conclusion that no matter the difficulties that I may face in my life, there are people that are worse off than I am. When watching films, I have this Christmas like concept that I enjoy too much and would want to watch it keep on reappearing in other films. One such case is the classic “wrongfully accused” case.
But I do not follow those instances where the innocent character gets imprisoned due to a false allegation which I personally hate because I am scared of going to jail for something that I did not do. However, I enjoy scenarios where there is the main character of a movie and he is on the run with various people around him who want to kill that person or keep him in jail. Then, I thank my stars for not being in such dire straits and continue to relish myself in calmness.
Sick and getting hurt or broke. There are characters in the movies that are all broke and have a few loose screws. But then I remember, I am not that bad off. I am level-headed and intelligent if they don’t consider me wealthy. However, there is one other movie trope I would like to add to that most of them were quite comforting and my intent is to elaborate on them. This is the situation where one or more central characters of the movie stay in a designed place and are confronted with a danger which is intentionally set to destroy the good ones.
Movies with this type of storyline conflict are my favorite. Indeed, several films of this genre have been noted before: Dog Soldiers, Self Defense, and Tenement. During my leisure time, I’ve gone through plenty of other instances including all possible surrounding tasks of the genre and period. Action thriller of John Carpenter named Assault on precinct 13 and Kirk Douglas western Last train from gun hill made in 1959.
What has made this storyline so successful for many years? Well, why do I find this storyline so appealing? Now that I have seen so many of the why and how, here is what I believe. One reason would be the fact that this situation is well suited to create evil villains. If the bad guys are the type who are prepared to sit back and wait outside the space of the good guys, they are definitely a force to be dealt with.
I also believe that there is a third reason for the success of this sort of movie, and that is, it more often than not, when there is a possessor of good, requires that the good uses its head rather than brawn and brute strength to eliminate the bad element. After all, not all the viewers are a combat machine in real life, therefore, witnessing individual cunning a wicked force is rather reassuring.
While I agree with what they are saying in those theories that I wrote above, for me there’s an additional reason why I like the ‘siege’ type drama so much. This is because almost always there is at least one character whose sole purpose seems to be to get under the skin of the audience. You know the Exit Speed people who are such characters in these sorts of films the ones who are killed in the most awful ways. With having to put up with too many irritating people in my daily life, I find it rather satisfying to sit through a needless violent portrayal and watch a bothersome yet fictional character being faltered.
In any case, I recently managed to make an assessment of another film in the ‘siege’ genre, and since I came across a new copy of Exit Speed in a local dollar store for three dollars, I was convinced to buy it. Of course, being an internet movie reviewer, that meant I better lick the disc in anticipation of placing it into the blue ray player but I digress. The timeline of the movie is within Texas and the focus is on the various passengers of a bus making long distance trip to El Paso.
Passengers include an AWOL soldier for an MP (Fred Ward, Remo Williams), a Hispanic (Everett Sifuentes), a PE Teacher (Gregory Jbara; Blue Bloods), a professional archer (Alice Greczyn, The Dukes Of Hazzard), and a single mother (Lea Thompson, Switched At Birth). Along the way, the bus passengers encounter some bikers.
Erratically driven motorcycles force the bus driver (David Rees Snell, The Shield) to crash and run over one of the bikers, completely by accident. It is self-evident that the other bikers are not happy about this so they decide to make it their mission to kill the driver, along with the passengers on the bus, in no order whatsoever.
Following the first assault by the bikers, the passengers manage to get off the freeway and stop in a dump. But that is not to say they are out of danger the bikers come up soon after and corner the bus passengers. The bus passengers of this point make up their minds that it is impossible for them to escape and hide. It’s a kill or be killed situation.
As they say, there are a few things for which audiences settle when watching a film and for me one of them definitely was the promise of action and tension. I can be almost certain that anyone who stumbled across Exit Speed on home video or some other format would say something like, “I thought it was time for some shootouts!”
There are people that require a bit more than simple action sequences in order for a film to work. It is such attributes that I will be addressing towards the end of the review. But as I have already stated, this fascination with admires should not overshadow in the quest of an engaging action flick. If the director mixes in elements of great characters that the audiences connect with, the chances of a satisfying film experience increase dramatically. Now first, I will look at the main characters and their tasks that were handed to them in Exit Speed.
There is indeed one irritating protagonist (and you can imagine what becomes of him or her) but we are also shown the other side of this character who, for once, is not a loner but rather, a teammate who shares the goal of the other characters to defeat an enemy. Many characters in several other films are also multi-dimensional in their nature this is prevalent in the case of many other protagonists as well.
We come to understand these protagonists are themselves less than perfect people, and all the protagonists have flaws. Sure, the runaway female soldier is imperfect in so many levels, but the drama does include among others, the exhibit of other character flaws including being a single mother terrified of having her children grow up as orphans, the high school gymnastics teacher currently sacked due to drinking problems, as well as the Latino that couldn’t utter a single word in English. As I have mentioned, these are not ideal human beings. That’s fine. They have flaws just like us in the audience so we are able to sympathize with them rather than the super fighters we commonly encounter in action movies.
What’s this newfound charm I feel towards the protagonists in the film? It’s not just their relatability or their levelheadedness that’s doing it for me. Their perception seemed accurate in the sense that they’re never perceived as totally devoid of sense or as some psychic-type figure who possesses mystical powers.
Any harm they do to each other or to protect themselves in a conflict situation only seems realistic. Such only applies to violence or any provocative behavior. I didn’t cringe at any action taken by them at all. However, I think it should be accentuated that they were convincing not solely due to the plot. The team didn’t disappoint in showcasing those characters to the audience. While most of the antagonists are hardly seasoned, it’s clear that the casting department did in fact try to cast pretty actors who can act as well.
A film with such employees for the roles has its advantages there is no attempt to dominate the screen by star attraction. You will see performers who are no different from ordinary people. It is apparent that the protagonists are the strong suit of the movie. What did the antagonists even bring to the table? The answer to this question was rife with anticipation for there were only a few primitive approaches to the murderous bikers in the film.
None of them goes out in front rather, the movie always makes them into a group. Even the concept of speaking is beyond any of the bikers in the movie. So you might be thinking that these are not very strong characters. However, if I am not mistaken, the ‘bad’ characters in Assault On Precinct 13 that were also presented in this way eventually generated a lot of concern.
And so it happens, so are the bad guys in Exit Speed. Scott Ziehl (Earth Vs. The Spider) portrays them as a force whose only subgoal is to annihilate everyone. You really feel that these people cannot be talked to and that the only means available to deal with them is to kill all of them, which implies extermination. They truly are a very frightening threat.
Ziehl did fairly well not only in handling his cast, but also in getting all other aspects of Exit Speed executed. It is a fact that no matter how hard one works, there are a few imperfections here and there, but almost all of these imperfections appear to be imperfection that would be difficult to many other directors. For one thing, there was a meagre amount of under five million dollars to spend. As a matter of fact, seeing as it’s decidedly rare to give the most of the movie visually pleasing images, Ziehl does manage to deliver.
There are some places where the seams are evident such as the “bus station” that is simply a transformed Shop ‘N’ Save. There are also weaknesses in the plot including the fact that no passing motorists saw the corpses lying on the freeway for several hours. If at all there is a genuine stumble that can be credited to Ziehl, the director of this movie, it is the middle portion of the film where for ages, there is no action and the trapped protagonists seem to forget that there are people after their lives.
Except for that part of the film, and those other loose ends that I referred to, in the end Ziehl still manages to render a product that action addicts would enjoy. Not just because of the characters, but also with the action sequences And for starters, there is some considerable brutal and bloody violence on display here.
Not only is it brutal and bloody; if I say that it is sometimes so well out of nowhere that I will even confess to being momentarily amazed and thinking, ”Whoah! Now that was surprising!” The rest of the action may not be as powerful in their rush, but nevertheless it is all well executed. The action has a good amount of variety; approximately from gun shots to people being shot through with arrows.
Above all, we are left with an impression that the characters do not have it easy as they engage their adversary, and that even after exerting all their efforts, they would still be hard pressed in repulsing a relentless opponent. This movie is in truth thrilling at times. So that you may get the idea, Exit Speed is a notch above average in the case of the “siege” genre, and definitely worthy of a view even if you happened to do what not like me and find it very cheap in a dollar shop.
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