Review of Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) by Alan B — 05 Sep 2014

At least it can be said, surprisingly, that Jan de Bont actually has some artistic integrity. He didn't want to make this and didn't see Speed having any sequel potential, unfortunately though, he was contractually obligated to make this because Hollywood gotta have that money!

The first thing that jumps out at any audience member is with them thinking, 'How is this going to work on a boat?' Speed was Speed because it was on a bus that had to go over 50, dodging pretty much every obstacle imaginable. The cruise is on water with pretty much nothing in the way for most of the duration of the movie. Right there someone should have realised that this wasn't going to work and the fact that it is 2 hours makes it all the worse. This was originally thought of as a Die Hard story and while that would work this really doesn't. I can't believe 5 people wrote this.

That being said it isn't all awful, while the characters might be a tad more goofy this time around I don't think it was entirely out of place. Bullock still remains a likeable screen presence with humor and Dafoe is always great as the bad guy with Patric doing the best he can with what is given and it was great to see Glenn Plummer again. It also has some good build up but does get into the boat maybe a tad too quick. The movie also has some spectacular set pieces, namely the one right at the end that cost a quarter of the movie's budget. Ultimately that isn't enough and the movie is just kind of, 'eh'.

The story was written by 5 people and it's near identical to the original and even has some of the same plot twists, including the villains story, was anybody even paying attention? Still though, I gave it a chance and for about 45 minutes I didn't really understand the hate, but the rest of the movie happened and the cheesy dialogue started to settle in. That 2 hour running time really works against it so much, I couldn't really choose any scenes that should have been taken out but it was still too long for its own good. Again, I gave it a chance and I can't say I hated every second of my time watching it, the movie went by at a fine pace and I can't say I was ever bored but I really wasn't involved as much as I was with the first one. With the original, I was glued to the screen and couldn't look away, with this I checked my phone every now and then to see if I had an email or something, the movie just didn't grab me. It isn't as exciting visually and I think that's where it failed for a lot of people, besides a few set pieces at the start and the massive one at the end, there isn't that much to look at besides people hurriedly running around a boat and while that would work for any given action movie, for a 'Speed' movie, it really works against it.

Speed 2 might come up short in almost every way to the original, it's still a decent action movie by itself, take out Speed from the title, call it something else and I'm sure the reviews wouldn't have been so bad. The movie badly needed a rewrite to make the story feel more like a Speed movie, one idea they had was a plane that couldn't go above a certain height and in concept alone that sounds a lot better and more like a Speed movie than this movie actually is. It isn't great but I didn't hate it. They're also trying way too hard to make a catchphrase out of the 'relationships based on intense...' line, even though they change it everytime they say it, Joss Whedon is sorely missed. At least Keanu Reeves was smart and 'jumped ship' on this project to tour with his band.