Edward O'Neill's commentary on the postmodern, intertextual nature of today's jokey, allusive films was very astute. Hot Shots II, for example, parodies the testosterone adventure film by flashing onscreen a running body count as the cartoonish violence escalates, and brags "More bodies than Rambo!" The ultimately self-defeating, self-parodying nature of this overblown genre itself is best illustrated by Last Action Hero. There is a kind of desperation inherent in True Lies, in which the explosion of an atomic bomb is just a blip in the background. Maybe overkill and irony is a way of distancing ourselves so we can enjoy the carnage. But it is rapidly leading to reductio ad absurdum for the action genre. Speed, which is neither jokey, allusive, or tongue in cheek, is a much better movie than True Lies. Andrew Gordon