Reception
The film was generally regarded as a critical disaster and received mostly negative reviews. It is also considered to be one of the worst movie sequels of all time. Sandra Bullock herself mocked this movie's performance and has admitted to regretting being a part of it. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 2% based on reviews from 52 critics, the sole positive assessment being given by Roger Ebert. According to the video release cover, Ebert and Gene Siskel gave it "Two Thumbs Up," while Sky Magazine said that it was "Brilliant in all the ways that a disaster movie should be". Despite the poor reviews most critics did award some praise for the film's ending. In the years since, Roger Ebert has claimed in reviews that he enjoyed Speed 2 more than Bullock. Speed 2 was listed on About.com's "Top 9 Cruise Ship or Ocean Liner Movies", which said it had "ood shots of the ship and a spectacular ending", but also described the plot as "lame".
Time said that Patric's character was "fundamentally uninteresting", but blamed de Bont and the screenwriters for "not providing their actors with stuff to act". Many critics stated that a major issue with the film was the lack of thrill due to the setting of the slow-moving ship. Entertainment Weekly heavily criticized the lack of story and said the film is "as slow-moving as a garbage scow". According to the Los Angeles Times, even children who saw the film felt it was strange that it took place on a ship "not capable of going more than a few knots per hour ", and claimed that Speed was "much more logical".
In 2010, New York featured an article on Speed 2 that described it as the "Worst Sequel of All", mainly due to the film's explanation for the absence of Reeves' character. The film has also been listed among the worst sequels by MSN, Comcast (ranked 38th), Entertainment Weekly (ranked ninth), Moviefone (ranked ninth), Total Film (ranked fifth), and Complex (ranked first).
The film grossed only $48 million in the United States, and made a total gross of $164.5 million worldwide. Moviefone and Time have both ranked the film among the biggest box office bombs of all time.
Read more about this topic: Speed 2: Cruise Control
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“Aesthetic emotion puts man in a state favorable to the reception of erotic emotion.... Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art.”
—Rémy De Gourmont (1858–1915)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)