Before there were superheroes saving the world, and stopping buses with their bare hands every weekend, there was a bus that they did not come to save, and if it dropped below 50 mph, boom. That’s Speed in a nutshell. And somehow, that wild setup turned into one of the biggest action hits of the ’90s.

With Keanu Reeves playing the cool cop and Sandra Bullock as the driver, Speed raced into theaters and blew past expectations. It cost under $40 million to make and made nearly $350 million worldwide. Critics loved it, and so did the fans.

Given its runaway success, a sequel was inevitable. Speed 2: Cruise Control thus arrived with Bullock reprising her role, but Reeves opted not to return. Unfortunately, the sequel failed to replicate the original’s impact, both commercially and critically. Now there’s talk of a third film, and if both stars say yes,...