![]() ![]() Even the title of the film, "Cruise Control," also known as "autopilot," implies everything is chill. When the villain, played by a creepy Willem Dafoe, reprograms the ship to crash into an oil tanker, most passengers on board have ample time to leave. The stakes are immediately lower because there's nothing around for the ship to crash into-not even an iceberg. Done as well as 'Speed,' they generate a kind of manic exhilaration." So Speed 2 producers must have read reviews like this and said, "Let's do the opposite." Instead of a placing the non-stop action on a bus zipping through the chaotic streets of Los Angeles, we find ourselves on a cruise ship going who-knows-how-many knots-per-whatever in open water. Done wrong, they seem like tired replays of old chase cliches. Roger Ebert wrote: "Films like 'Speed' belong to the genre I call Bruised Forearm Movies, because you're always grabbing the arm of the person sitting next to you. The original flick has a genius logline: If the pedestrian bus drops below 50 miles per hour, grade-A villain, Dennis Hopper, will explode the damn thing. Because while the movie bombed critically, it was a financial success overall. Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a 2004 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. And while some box office bombs have aged better with time (like, say, The Wizard of Oz or Clue) or are just so bad they're fun to watch (see: John Travolta's recent catalog), I regret to inform you that Speed 2 is just plain bad. In fact, even Sandra Bullock recently said she regretted doing it. And yet, Speed 2: Cruise Control would not only miss the mark but become known as one of the worst sequels of all time. Following its massive success, 20th Century Fox released a sequel in June 1997. After all, what could be so hard to recreate? Simply write its two charismatic leads on a vessel rigged to explode if it drops below a certain speed, and boom! You've got another blockbuster. It went on to win two Oscars while catapulting both Keanu Reeves's and Sandra Bullocks's screen careers into the A-list echelon. In 1994, Speed hit theaters and was an instant box office and critical hit. It was lightning in a bottle. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |