Speed 2: Cruise Control

This is No Pleasure Cruise

Main Cast: Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Glenn Plummer

Director: Jan de Bont

Plot Summary: Another out-of-control vehicle pulls Sandra Bullock’s character out of her normal routine: in this case, a romantic holiday aboard a cruise liner. She and her boyfriend must save the ship and crew from a mad bomber.

Once more into the breach, dear friends. Sandra Bullock is back as Annie, the bus-driving passenger who, along with Keanu Reeves, saved the day in the first movie. Now she is back with a new boyfriend, the back-story told during an amusing driving test with the instructor (Tim Conway, at his bumbling-est). She is unsure of their relationship, and Alex (Patric) doesn’t help matters when he admits that he is part of an elite SWAT squad. She wants someone less prone to dangerous situations in their work.

Alex convinces her to go on a vacation down in the Caribbean on a luxury cruise liner. As they settle in and begin to meet the other passengers, it appears that things are turning around for the better. Fat chance! A mysterious passenger (Dafoe) has a serious grudge against the company and has the means and will to do something about it. The action cuts between his plotting and Annie/Alex trying to strengthen their relationship. I have a feeling that it will be tested to its limits when the madman carries out his plan…

Yeah, this is much like the original. Instead of a bus we have a cruise liner. But the basic plot is the same: a bunch of passengers are trapped as the bus/ship speeds out of control, its fate held in the hands of a madman. I will admit the pacing is good, the production professional, and the acting is solid. While improbable, I don’t see the situations as impossible.

An out-of-control ship doesn’t have much to run into in the open sea, so it must be steered closer to land in order to cause some mayhem. Whether or not that happens, and if the ship survives, I leave for you to discover. In the scheme of things, this offering isn’t as good as the original (although I liked the villain better). I would suggest you rent that one instead, or find another, better action flick. This one just doesn’t have the excitement of many others out there.

But Sandra Bullock was in a bikini for a good portion of the movie. Hmm. Maybe I’ll reconsider, although pictures of that can be downloaded off the Internet. It (barely) saves this movie from a total waste, in my opinion.

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