Speed 2 – Cruise Control
starring Sandra Bullock and Willem Dafoe
Keanu Reeves is gone, and this sequel has a new terminator cop to do all the bad guy busting. Speed 2 is much faster and action-packed than the original, but there is even less story than there was before, making it less than satisfying.
Willem Dafoe, a great actor and one of my favorites, plays an alienated computer programmer recently downsized (fired) from his company that designed and provided computer programs to a cruise shipping company. To take out his anger and get back at his company he plans and executes a high-tech diamond heist on a cruise shop that just happens to be the vacation spot of Annie (Sandra Bullock) form the first movie. Annie’s new policeman beau is even less of a three-dimensional character than Jack was (played by Keanu Reeves in the original movie). But, he is even greater at Terminator-like action control. The cruise ship, Seaborne Legend, looks great as it plows up onto land in a Caribbeanresort town after side-swiping a fully-loaded oil tanker. Wow-ee!!
Right from the start the action never lets up, and you are in for 125-minutes of out-of-breath adventure.
My favorite character is played by Tim Conway in a cameo appearance as Sandra Bullock’s driving instructor, both in the opening and closing sequences of the film. People might remember Conway as Ensign Parker on the old McHale’s Navy television sitcom, and later as a regular on the 1970s variety comedy show, The Carol Burnet Show.
Except for Tim, you can save your money and save your time by giving Speed 2 a miss.