Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) is no longer seeing former boyfriend Jack because of his dangerous job and reckless lifestyle. Therefore, it come as no little shock when her current boyfriend, Alex Shaw (Jason Patric), reveals that he is actually a member of L.A.'s SWAT team and not on beach patrol as he had implied. To smooth things over with her Alex whips out tickets for a Caribbean cruise on which they can get to know each other better. Unable to refuse this charming invitation despite the ill- timed revelation of deceit, Annie lets herself be swept away by the moment.
Once aboard the Seabourn Legend, things go so well that Alex is ready to pop the big question to his lady love. Just before he has his chance, fate, in the guise of a disgruntled former cruise line employee named John Geiger (Willem Dafoe), steps in. Geiger designed the computer system for the cruise line, which was then sold to other cruise lines, but was let go when he became sick due to prolonged exposure to the electrical equipment on which he worked. Aiming to steal millions of dollars in jewels being transported on the luxury liner, he plants bombs around the ship and takes over its computer controls. He intends to ram the Seabourn Legend into an oil tanker while he makes his escape on a nearby seaplane. Only Alex has the guts and intelligence to even attempt to stop this brainy madman.
"Speed 2: Cruise Control" is better than advertisements make it out to be. Sandra Bullock, is again the plucky girl-next-door type of hero, while Jason Patric can't seem to muster much enthusiasm for any non-action scene. The motivation of the bad guy is one pulled out of today's headlines, although one might wonder why a man with two years to live and who has tens of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and his own airplane, would actually need more cash. A decade ago this film would have been a blockbuster. In the meantime, however, we have been given better films like "Die Hard" and the original "Speed". Next to them, this is merely a soggy sequel. Today's audiences demand more than just more of the same.