Chapter 21: Excitement

"Ah…"

The elevator plunged rapidly, and the female passenger let out a terrified scream, likely startled by the flashing images. In the theater, a young woman's scream echoed as well.

Sitting calmly with his mother in another theater in Los Angeles, Duke had cut out many transitional scenes from the film. For instance, after the opening murder, the film directly switched to a group of people laughing as they entered the elevator.

Yes, the rhythm—what he wanted was a continuous fast pace, ensuring the audience never had a chance to relax completely. Several transitional scenes were barely touched upon.

Moreover, the exaggerated entrance of Jack's car, which showcased a distinctive 1980s Hollywood style, was changed to a stylish drift and stop upon arrival.

The following scenes of rescuing people, searching for the bomber, shooting Harry, and the first large explosion were nothing out of the ordinary; they were classic Hollywood clichés. The only difference was that these scenes took place in the extremely confined space of the elevator, where the cramped environment and urgent timeline created an overwhelming sense of pressure for the audience!

Just beside Mrs. Leah, from the moment the elevator began to slide down, a female audience member kept her hand pressed to her chest, her rapid breathing revealing her current anxiety.

Tension, suffocating…

This was the greatest sensation the movie's opening brought to Kunitz. He fully endorsed Jones's absolute praise for the film—this opening scene alone was worth the five-dollar ticket price.

"Boom…"

That explosion, which seemed capable of collapsing the entire building, was simply the best conclusion to the film's opening scene.

"Ha… ha…"

Around him, companions were breathing quickly, seemingly having forgotten to breathe in those twenty minutes. Especially the middle-aged audience member in front, who directly removed his jacket, his heavy breathing resembling that of a bull from Texas.

After several deep breaths, Johnson's chest gradually settled. As a film enthusiast with over ten years of experience, this was the most exciting opening scene he had seen since entering the 1990s, aside from *Terminator 2*!

In terms of excitement, this opening was indeed not on par with *Terminator 2*, but when it came to thrills, it was absolutely not inferior to James Cameron's masterpiece.

As the screen transitioned into the next scenes, the Los Angeles mayor was bestowing medals upon Jack and Harry. Johnson's tense emotions eased a bit, and his demeanor relaxed as he reached for the cola beside him, ready to take a few sips. Typically, during this part of the film, there would be a relatively calm buffer period.

However, just as Johnson was about to bring the straw to his mouth, the screen suddenly shifted. The bomber was sitting in front of the television, applauding the male protagonist Jack. The camera switched back and forth between him and Jack, using the simplest visual language to indicate that there would be an exciting showdown between the two soon!

"He wouldn't be foolish enough to go directly to Jack for a fistfight, would he?"

Watching the obviously frail bomber, the only female companion asked Jones, "If that's the plot, then it's too cliché; it's no different from those muscle-flexing action movies. Keanu Reeves is… well, handsome, but he doesn't have muscles to show off, does he?"

"This isn't a traditional action film!" Jones casually replied, signaling for his female companion to look at the screen. "Look, the confrontation is about to unfold!"

Despite the voices rising in the background, it did not affect Johnson at all. When he saw the bomber, his nerves tightened again. The movie's plot swiftly shifted once more. On vacation, Jack walked out of a café and skillfully greeted a middle-aged man. As he boarded the bus heading off into the distance, soon after…

It was an explosion that could only be described as earth-shattering, flames engulfing the entire screen. The camera followed the explosion's fire, surging from the inside out, creating the illusion that the blast was happening right in front of the audience. When the bus's roof flew off and crushed a car, the glass shattered in the fiery light, creating a unique glass explosion.

Although the people in the car were undoubtedly reduced to nothing but remains, Johnson still heard applause nearby.

"This director's depiction of explosions is exhilarating."

"He seems particularly skilled in this area."

"How was that internal-to-external explosion shot? It felt like it was happening right before my eyes!"

Breathless once more, Johnson suddenly realized he had no idea when his mouth had dropped open, feeling a sheen of sweat forming on his body. This was an explosion surpassing even the nuclear blast scene in *Terminator 2*!

The plot of the film advanced rapidly, its rhythm like Jack driving down the spinning wheels. A tourist bus had been rigged with a bomb by the bomber; the bomb would activate if the speed exceeded fifty miles per hour, and if it dropped below fifty or if anyone exited the bus, it would explode. The bomber was forcing Jack, who had sabotaged his first action, to join this game of speed and life.

Next, the film explained the bomber's insane motives—he was originally a bomb disposal expert from another state's police department, but after an injury forced him into retirement, he could not access his pension, and he wanted to extort money for his retirement through this method.

Upon seeing this, Johnson suddenly felt a flicker of sympathy for the old man. He was not a born villain but had been pushed into madness by certain harsh realities. This was not a completely one-dimensional antagonist found in other action films. In Jack's ensuing confrontations, the bomber appeared realistic and full of depth.

He was taciturn, seeming like an ordinary retired old man, yet when he showed his murderous intent, it was genuinely frightening. He appeared rational, but any violation of his wishes would trigger his evil nature! Especially in the numerous close-up shots, he always had a crazed energy about him, not the overt kind.

In Johnson's eyes, the bomber felt more real than Jack, who always maintained a stern expression.

By the way, he remembered seeing in the credits that the screenwriter and director were the same person; the antagonist he created was simply outstanding.

"All misfortunes stem from the federal government?"

In another theater, Mrs. Leah quietly said to Duke. Duke shrugged, "The Washington authorities will always be Hollywood's best scapegoats."

In the film, under the premise of political correctness, they could smear the federal government at will. The unemployed's misfortunes? That's the federal government's fault! Too many homeless people? The federal government's fault! The bomber can't get his pension? Also the federal government's fault!

At that moment, a few Black audience members seated in front let out faint complaints, "Another white person saving the world!"

Indeed, at first, the bus driver was Black, but he quickly got injured and was replaced by the white female protagonist. Jack, the savior, was naturally a white police officer, while the passengers included a large number of Asian, Latinx, and African American minorities.

Duke had paid close attention to this while filming. Despite cutting the transitional scenes, using models for many big scenes, and even adding Naomi Watts, who was just there to play a minor role, the distribution of saviors and those being saved had not changed.

The distribution of passengers on the bus could be seen as a microcosm of North American society.

"Wow, cool!"

Another round of gasps erupted in the theater, followed by enthusiastic applause. Mrs. Leah couldn't remember how many times this had happened. Although the audience was small, they frequently cheered for the film, applauding those who had made this film!

She gradually felt a sense of pride that she couldn't quite define—pride unique to a mother!

At this point, she slowly began to believe that Duke would become her greatest pride!

"The director's name is Duke Rosenberg!"

Beside Dunn, Jones's voice suddenly rang out, reminding his companion, "This young guy is an outstanding director! Guys, his explosions are unparalleled! Even without suitable explosion scenarios, he can find alternative explosions to use!"

Just a moment ago, a shot had shown the bus crashing into a truck full of water barrels; the splashes were like a hurricane in the Caribbean, wild and untamed—a scene akin to using water as explosives!

The spinning wheels, the speedometer always hovering near fifty, and the various crashes and chaos caused by the bus stimulated Jones and others' nerves, prompting cheers and applause. They didn't even bother to clean up the spilled popcorn; their eyes were solely on the film!

Only *Speed*

*Speed* did not disappoint them; the tense and thrilling plot was tightly interwoven, with escalating speed and rhythm that made it hard to breathe. Life-and-death decisions had to be made in high-speed motion—wasn't that thrilling enough?

"This is undoubtedly a rare top-tier action film!"

As a seasoned film buff, even though the film was far from its conclusion, Johnson had already made up his mind—there were hardly any direct confrontations between the two opposing sides; it was all a battle of wits and courage aboard the bus. This was an alternative action film and a unique action film; the rhythm and scenes that could hype up the audience seemed to have no endpoint, continuously placed on the big screen by the director with the most dazzling, stunning, exciting, and fastest shots.