Speed 2: Cruise Control

Further evidence, after the computer-generated vapidity of Twister, that De Bont's directorial career has expended the promise of his debut Speed. Making the sequel without Keanu Reeves was a desperate move, and this proceeds to throw overboard every other component of the first film's success: familiar settings, fleet pacing, a witty plot and irreverent characterisation. Here the characters are cut-outs, the settings alien (who outside Hollywood can picture themselves trapped on a luxury cruiser?), and the action interminable. 'Relationships based on extreme circumstances never work out,' Bullock's character repeats incessantly to explain (and remind us of) Keanu's absence. She thinks her new beau's a beach guard - only to discover he's actually another daredevil cop. To make up, they take a Caribbean holiday, alongside Dafoe, recently sacked, feeling under-appreciated and planning revenge. Dafoe's take on Dennis Hopper's Hopper impersonation is plain pointless; Bullock too is wasted in a ditzy half-role; and Patric is unsmiling and resolutely uncharismatic.