Blown Away — Review

Action thrillers released in the ‘90s were a different beast. There’s an almost unquantifiable quality that sets them apart from the trailblazing genre films of the ‘80s. Hollywood went bigger and bolder, amplifying elaborate stories, high-octane action set pieces and larger-than-life characters to popular effect. Stephen Hopkins’ BLOWN AWAY isn’t regarded in the same realm as some of its era-specific contemporaries, but it has all the hallmarks of a film that trades in narrative cohesion for engaging thrills and visual spectacle. Jeff Bridges became an action star, Tommy Lee Jones sneered all over the screen and the Northern Irish were made to suffer through truly abominable accent imitations.

SPEED is the superior action thriller from 1994 about a rogue domestic terrorist with a penchant for making makeshift bombs, but BLOWN AWAY is an enthralling substitute. Steeped more in suspense than in bombastic action, the movie performs best when it abandons the pretence of being a realistic procedural thriller. There’s not a moment in BLOWN AWAY that feels believable—many of the bombs for example are assembled with an assortment of bells and whistles, but that’s part of the charm. It’s the to-and-fro between Bridges and Jones that sells the experience, the former dramatically emoting and the latter swaggering around to the sound of U2. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a worthy addition to the ‘90s action film canon.