Barnes & Noble

Reprising the role that catapulted her to stardom's top ranks, Sandra Bullock once again finds herself at the mercy of a madman in director Jan De Bont's breakneck sequel to Speed. This extravagant thriller finds her character, Annie, on board the world's most luxurious ocean liner, enjoying a Caribbean cruise with new boyfriend Alex (Jason Patric), a member of the L.A.P.D.'s elite SWAT unit. When maniacal genius John Geiger (Willem Dafoe) seizes control of the lavishly appointed leviathan, it falls to them to apprehend the lunatic and stop the runaway craft from crashing into another ship. De Bont dips into the same cinematic bag of tricks he first opened for the original Speed, presenting his protagonists with an already dangerous problem and then confronting them with a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He takes a little more time to establish the principal situation, but once the expository material is out of the way the thrills pile up, one atop the other, in dizzying succession. Bullock, who shared the spotlight with Keanu Reeves in Speed, handles herself with all the grace, humor, and confidence befitting her then-new star status; Dafoe, playing a more colorful character, effortlessly dominates every scene in which he appears. But Speed 2 isn't a film that's remembered for the quality of its acting -- it's remembered as a red-blooded, full-throated action adventure that provides a two-hour adrenalin rush. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Indications were that this action sequel was in trouble before production began, when the male lead from the first film, Keanu Reeves, declined a role in the follow-up. Sandra Bullock returns as Annie Porter, an accident-prone ditz who is thrilled when her boyfriend Alex (Jason Patric) presents her with two tickets for a cruise ship vacation to the Bahamas. The trip is a peace offering presented because Annie has just learned that Alex is a police officer who's been lying to her about his choice of profession. Little does the happy couple know that the disgruntled John Geiger (Willem Dafoe), designer of the ship's computer system, has plotted a violent takeover of the vessel and a diamond hijacking that puts everyone on board in mortal danger. Being the dashing police officer he is, Alex leaps into action and tries to stop Geiger, but not before the ship crashes at top velocity into a Caribbean port town. Sandra Bullock agreed to star in this flop of a sequel in order to get financial backing for a pet project, Hope Floats (1998), a low-budget drama that turned a healthy profit. Karl Williams

Chicago Sun-Times

Is the movie fun? Yes. Especially when the desperate Bullock breaks into a ship's supply cabinet and finds a chainsaw, which I imagine all ships carry. And when pleasure boaters somehow fail to see a full-size runaway ocean liner until it is three feet from them. Movies like this embrace goofiness with an almost sensual pleasure. Roger Ebert

Product Details

• UPC: 024543043997
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Time: 2:05:00
• Sales Rank: 3,735