Summary
One of Denzel Washington’s best B-movies is exactly what aSpeedsequel should have been.Speedarrived in 1994 and became an unexpected summer blockbuster. The movie’s simple but ingenious premise, relentless pacing and the incredible chemistry between Keanu Reeves and a little-known actress named Sandra Bullock combined to make it a must see. The film has aged incredibly well too; sadly, this same compliment does not extend toSpeed 2: Cruise Control. Now,Speed 2would have sucked with or without Keanu Reeves, but once he passed, the filmshould have been canceled.
Instead, Bullock returned with Jason Patric as her new co-star, but the follow-up received poor reviews and was a box-office dud. There are many reasons thesequel didn’t work, butcalling a filmSpeedand then setting it on a cruise ship may not have been the sharpest move.Cruise Controlkilled the fledging franchise, though some fans of the original still hope to seeKeanu and Sandra back together for a belatedSpeed 3one day.
Unstoppable
Cast
Unstoppable is an action thriller directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. The film follows a veteran engineer and a young conductor as they race against time to stop an unmanned, runaway train carrying hazardous materials. Set against a backdrop of high-stakes tension, the film explores themes of bravery and quick thinking under pressure.
The late, greatTony Scott made five movies with Denzel Washington, including his final project,Unstoppable. This 2010 thriller cast Washington and Chris Pine as an engineer and conductor forced to work together to stop a runaway train loaded with dangerous materials. A very B-movie premise on paper, but Scott’s incredible craftsmanship and a great cast elevate it to a different level. It also feels like more of aSpeedsequel thanCruise Controlever did.
LikeSpeed,Unstoppablehas a clean, uncomplicated premisebehind it. The entire plot can be summed up in a sentence, and Scott’s storytelling is ruthlessly efficient. The runtime is a shade over 90 minutes, and like the runaway locomotive itself, it never slows down once it gets up to speed. Scott also depicts the train like the shark fromJaws, making it a hulking beast seemingly intent on causing chaos and smashing everything in its way.
Had the screenplay forUnstoppableexisted back in the late 1990s, it surely would have retrofitted intoSpeed 2. Now, it would have been tricky to place Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock on that train, but at the very least, the concept was solid.Cruise Controlfelt more like “Die Hard on a Boat” than a trueSpeedsequel, whereasUnstoppablejust feels more spiritually aligned with the 1994 hit.
Unstoppable Has Been Reappraised Since Its 2010 Release
Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of Tony Scott’s last film
The penultimateTony Scott moviewasThe Taking of Pelham 123, a remake of a classic 1974 thriller. Unfortunately, this is Washington and Scott’s weakest collaboration, since the latter feels constrained by the claustrophobic nature of the story. The film received mixed reviews and hasn’t been reclaimed since, so enthusiasm forUnstoppablewas muted heading into 2010. It was yet another train movie involving Scott and Washington, which didn’t feel like much call for excitement.
Regardless,Unstoppabledid surprisingly well with critics, with the film having a rock-solid 87% onRotten Tomatoes. Still, it was considered a B-picture that happened to be made with skill, but one that would fade from memory shortly after being viewed. In the aftermath of Tony Scott’s passing in 2012, much of his work has been reappraised by filmmakers and critics.Where Scott was once dismissed as a visual stylist with a poor grasp of story, much of his work has been reassessed, includingUnstoppablebeing considered a great final movie.
Quentin Tarantino spent an entire episode ofThe RewatchablespodcastsingingUnstoppable’spraises, praising Scott’s direction and the cast. Likewise,Christopher Nolan is a noted fan, citingUnstoppableas a big inspiration onDunkirk, tellingIndieWirethatUnstoppableused “…the mechanics and uses of suspense to modulate an audience’s response to narrative.” Nolan called out several other films as influences on his 2017 war epic, includingThe Wages of Fear,Alienand - yes -Speed.
Tony Scott directed Quentin Tarantino’s scriptTrue Romancein 1993 and the writer later did uncredited work on Scott’sCrimson Tide.
Why Speed 2 Was Such A Disappointing Sequel
Everything Speed did right, Cruise Control did wrong
Bullock’s Annie feels like a different character inSpeed 2, she shares little chemistry with Patric’s bland hero and there’s very little tension to be found once the main plot kicks in.
The issue with sequelisingSpeedis that the concept is so specific, coming up with an organic hook for another film is very tricky. Writer Graham Yost told theScript Apartpodcasthe had two sequel concepts in mind. One was calledHigh Speed, which was set on a plane forced to fly at low altitudes in the Andes Mountains. The other wasFull Speed, where a boat carrying unstable explosives that will explode if they get wet. Neither scenario sounds like a slam dunk, but again, those premises actually involve speeding vehicles.
Why Keanu Reeves Was Recast For Speed 2: Cruise Control
With Sandra Bullock back, why was Speed 2: Cruise Control unable to get Keanu Reeves to return despite promising the actor $12 million for the movie?
Speed 2: Cruise Controllacks so much of what made the original click. Bullock’s Annie feels like a different character, she shares little chemistry with Patric’s bland hero, and there’s very little tension to be found once the main plot kicks in. Willem Dafoe is great value as the villain and the boat crashing into an island is, if nothing else, a technically impressive sequence. ButSpeed 2is a listless bore, lacking the propulsive energy and likable heroes that drove the 1994 film.
Will Another Speed Sequel Happen?
Keanu and Sandra have said Speed 3 isn’t totally out of the question
FollowingSpeed 2andMiss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, Sandra Bullock has sworn off sequels. Attempts to mount follow-ups toThe Heatand other hits with her went nowhere, but there is one sequel that could tempt her. In 2024, Bullock and Reeves reunited for a 30th anniversary retrospective interview on the podcast50 MPH, andboth expressed interest in making anotherSpeedsequel. In truth, it sounds like the duo just want to work together again, and it doesn’t necessarily need to beSpeed 3.
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves worked together once afterSpeed, co-starring in the 2006 romanceThe Lake House.
Even so, 30 years on there’s a lot of love forSpeed. Keanu and Sandra are still bankable A-listers, sothe pair finding themselves in another speed-based misadventure would still get audiences curious. The problem with making aSpeed 3goes back to the issues withCruise Control; what’s the concept, and how would Keanu’s Jack and Bullock’s Annie find themselves caught up in it?
Of course, nothing is impossible in Hollywood. If a good idea comes along and Keanu and Sandra are agreeable, anotherSpeedcould easily happen. Legacy sequels likeBeverly Hills Cop: Axel ForBad Boys: Ride or Dieare still appealing to audiences, andSpeed 3would be no different. If producers could find a pitch as beautifully simple as Tony Scott’sUnstoppable, then all the better.
Source:Rotten Tomatoes,The Rewatchables,IndieWire,Script Apart,50 MPH
Speed
Created by John de Bont and Graham Yost, Speed is a movie franchise that follows characters caught in precarious situations as passengers aboard vehicles set to crash and detonate. The first film stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, with Reeves playing the role of Officer Jack Traven as he hunts a dangerous bomber, finding himself stuck on a bus that will explode if it falls under a certain speed.
