When a top secret military project on an tropical island goes wrong it results in the death of 18 soldiers. Colonel Brynner is jailed for the accident he swears revenge on Dr Long. On his release he attempts to steal the biological weapon but Long manages to escape. He gets as far as a local restaurant where he enlists local boy Tim Mason and ice cream delivery worker Arlo to take the weapon and deliver it safely back to the Government. The only condition is that the weapon must be kept below 50 degrees Fahrenheit or else it will go off and kill everything for hundreds of miles.
When I sat to watch this it was really because it had been a good few weeks since I had seen a really bad film from the plot summary I had assumed that this would be one, even with my low expectations. In no way did I think this was a good film but it wasn't as rubbish as other reviews have suggested rather it is simply uninspired, clichéd and silly. The plot seems daft and it is mainly because trained military special ops can't seem to catch two small time crooks driving a clapped out van in the desert. However it manages to be enjoyable as it keeps moving constantly and stops you being distracted for even a second, lest you should ask questions.
The action is OK but never really gets the tension up in the same way that Speed did. The director is owed a lot of credit, despite the clichés he really keeps the pace up and makes this better than it should have been.
The acting is not good but is acceptable and is all that is needed for this sort of film. Ulrich is not a leading man and Gooding Jr seems to be trying to prove that the Oscar was a one-off, but together they have an easy chemistry despite it being the usual old mismatched buddy movie banter. Firth plays a traditional bad guy and Paymer seems to have taken his misguided scientist straight from the cliché text book.
Overall this is a poor film. It has no real good ideas of it's own (even the `keep it below 50' idea is someone else's) and it is clichéd all the way. However it keeps moving with such energy that it is hard not to veg out in front of it just don't expect a good film. You could do worse but you could do a whole hell of a lot better.
