Actually was intrigued by the idea for the story, not an original one but intriguing, and have nothing against John Travolta, though it has been a while since he has given a good performance or made a good film. No bias or bigotry against him and his personal life and choices have absolutely no bearing on my opinions of his performances and films (that has never been the case for anybody or any film) and never have done.
'Speed Kills' just didn't work on most levels for me and most people it seems, and this is being said with regret not malice. It is another one of those films that is not irredeemably bad and there is always a real conscious effort to see the good in the bad. 'Speed Kills' though is also another film that has its good points far outweighed by the bad things, there is little good here and the flaws are big rather than marginal.
The scenery was quite nice, but that is pretty much the only praise that could be given from personal opinion.
None of the performances work, in general the acting had a very under-rehearsed vibe while Travolta over-compensates in his role with some off-putting facial expressions that border on unintentionally funny. None of the characters are remotely interesting, little more than undeveloped stereotypes with little personality, very flat character relationships, no interesting or distinct character traits and irritating ways of behaving and decision-making. The direction felt practically non-existent.
Other than the scenery, the production values lack slickness and look rather drab and like they were made in haste. A feeling most betrayed by some very haphazard editing that lacks any kind of organisation. The soundtrack is unmemorable at best and the script is so cheesy watching it with a straight face is impossible and that is when it is comprehensible.
From a story, structure and pace point of view, 'Speed Kills' is a mess. There is no excitement, let alone tension or suspense whatsoever. Structurally, the story just jumps about and constantly feels like there are parts missing that were meant to be there, so the flow is always choppy. And the pace is very pedestrian with many parts dragging, making a film that wasn't that long feel twice as long to the extent it felt there was nowhere near enough story to sustain the length.
All in all, the scenery aside a poorly done film. 2/10 Bethany Cox
