Speed 2 – Cruise Control (1997)
29%RT Audience Score: 16%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 9 nominations
Speed 2 falls far short of its predecessor, thanks to laughable dialogue, thin characterization, unsurprisingly familiar plot devices, and action sequences that fail to generate any excitement
Speed 2: Cruise Control is like a bad rollercoaster ride that you can’t wait to get off of. The only difference is that you can’t get off until the end. The movie is a mess of bad dialogue, weak characters, and a plot that’s been done a million times before. It’s like they took the first Speed movie, put it on a boat, and then forgot to add any excitement or suspense. The only thing that’s worth watching is Willem Dafoe’s over-the-top performance as the villain, but even that can’t save this sinking ship.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for frenetic disaster action and violence
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, American, Sign, Language, Portuguese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Nov 20, 2007
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, Brian McCardie, Christine Firkins, directed by Jan de Bont, written by Randall McCormick, Jeff Nathanson, action, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Carol Buckland, Jami Bernard, Joe Morgenstern, Desmond Ryan, Keith Simanton, Stephen Thompson, Daniel Barnes, Mike Massie, Martin Thomas, Korey Coleman, Andy Klein, PG-13, Caribbean cruise, explosion, communication system, John Geiger, crazed passenger, Annie, Alex, SWAT team, survival, sound mix, surround
Worldwide gross: $164,508,066
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $306,656,337
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 489
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 33,441,258
US/Canada gross: $48,608,066
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $90,609,366
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 798
US/Canada opening weekend: $16,158,942
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $30,121,575
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 458
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $160,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $298,252,938
Production budget ranking: 19
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $160,609,207
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$152,205,807
ROI to date (est.): -33%
ROI ranking: 1,582
Jason Patric – Officer Alex Shaw
Willem Dafoe – John Geiger
Temuera Morrison – Juliano
Brian McCardie – Merced
Christine Firkins – Drew
Director(s)
Jan de Bont
Writer(s)
Randall McCormick, Jeff Nathanson
Producer(s)
Jan de Bont
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 9 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (73) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (70)
It’s not really worth sinking your time and money into. This movie is more floundering than fun.
January 5, 2018
Carol Buckland
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
An ear-splitting amusement-park attraction posing as a movie.
June 20, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Speed 2 is frantic action, tinny dialogue, perfunctory characterization and tried-and-false plot pilferings.
May 28, 2013
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
TOP CRITIC
De Bont remains an expert director of action, but putting the reference to cruise control in the title serves as fair warning of an unengaged filmmaker on automatic pilot.
May 28, 2013 | Rating: 2/4
Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
[A] truly horrid sequel.
May 28, 2013 | Rating: 2/4
Keith Simanton
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
Speed cost something like $30 million; this sequel cost four times as much. So why is it such a feeble, aimless piece of junk in comparison?
May 28, 2013
Stephen Thompson
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Instead of action or suspense, Cruise Control delivers dumb comedy riddled with continuity errors and a complete lack of spatial-temporal logic.
July 6, 2021 | Rating: 1/5
Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
Willem Dafoe, though effective in nearly every villain role, is a bit overdone as a psychopath with a penchant for leech therapy.
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 4/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
They spent double, maybe even four times as much as they did on Speed…and it’s terrible.
June 25, 2020
Martin Thomas
Double Toasted
They truly ruined a whole franchise in just two movies…never seen something like this, can’t even reboot it now…
June 25, 2020
Korey Coleman
Double Toasted
First, the good news: Unlike most action film sequels, Speed 2: Cruise Control is not a mere retread of the original. Now the bad news: Better it had been.
June 20, 2014
Andy Klein
New Times
There’s very little to tell about the story that you can’t figure out from the two-minute trailer.
June 20, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Dennis King
Tulsa World…
Plot
Annie Porter, the woman who was held on a bus with a bomb attached to it that will go off if it slows down. She dated the cop who saved her but broke up with him because he was constantly putting his life in danger. She would then date a guy named Alex who is also a cop but told her that he does a mundane assignment. But she eventually learns that he works for the same unit that the other guy worked for and is also addicted to danger. She wants to break up with but he surprises her with a cruise. She agrees to go. And he’s planning to propose to her. But when he notices another passenger act peculiar, he can’t help but try to find out what’s up with him. He’s Geiger, a computer man who designed the ship’s systems, who was fired. He then takes over the ship’s systems and sets it on a course that will send it into a tanker. Alex tries to stop him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Willem Dafoe is described as “overdone” in his role as the psychopathic villain with a penchant for leech therapy.
Jan-de-Bont.jpg
