Jaws 2

*** out of ****

As a sequel to an immensely popular classic, Jaws 2 had a lot to live up to, and while it doesn't reach the level of sheer terror of the original, it's still effective in creating thrills, some scares, and excitement. The biggest flaw is the pace, since the scenes on land drag on over and over. These moments hurt an otherwise entertaining and often fun motion picture.

The plot is mostly a re-hash of Jaws. It even takes place in the same town, Amity. It's been years since the first shark was killed and Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) begins to have his suspicions of another great white in the vicinity when two divers are reported missing, a boating accident that results in the mysterious disappearance of a mother and daughter, and a killer whale washed ashore with large bites all over it. Brody voices his beliefs to the mayor (Murray Hamilton), who, along with real estate developer Glenn Petersen (Joseph Mascolo), disregard this because of the current production of a hotel on the beach.

Brody's constant paranoia of the situation eventually gets him fired. Meanwhile, his two sons, Mike and Sean, sneak off to sail with a group of other teens. When another shark attack occurs and is confirmed, Brody sets off to find his sons before it's too late.

I've heard a lot of interesting things involving the making of this sequel. Apparently, Spielberg and Dreyfuss were interested in returning, but couldn't due to their filming of Close Encounters. The original story was supposed to be more character-oriented, without as much focus on the teens in peril, but when Spielberg had to back out the studio executives got nervous and went with Szwarc to make a more formulaic and "effective" sequel. Roy Scheider would be the only big star from the original who would return.

I'm a huge admirer of Steven Spielberg's film, and it would be hard for any other director to equal, much less surpass, his filmmaking techniques. Director Jeannot Szwarc does an overall solid job here. He knows what made the first film effective and holds off long camera shots of the shark for a while (in my opinion, maybe a little too long). The beginning of the film does a nice job of creating interest and a good set-up is appreciated. However, this set-up goes on a little too long. A half-hour would have been just fine, but Szwarc takes nearly 75 minutes for the film to focus on the shark hunting down the sailing teens.

You may wonder why I voice my complaint for this when in the original the shark didn't make it's first full appearance until near the end. Well, in that film's case there were three great characters (only one of whom returned) and some classic suspense sequences to crank up the tension (Dreyfuss and Scheider's exploration of the abandoned boat, anyone?). While Szwarc should be noted for trying to build up momentum, he slows down everything a little too much and thrill seekers looking for non-stop action may find it disappointing, and it might be more up their alley to look for Deep Blue Sea (which is considerably faster moving, though is an overall weaker film).

It is initially interesting to see how this sequel builds up its story with such scenes as the examination of a dead killer whale and a diver who runs into the shark, and it is quite entertaining to revisit Amity again, but Brody's constant back and forth debates with the town committee get tiresome after awhile. We know he's right and they're wrong and the film makers should have realized that these arguments get old quickly. To be fair, Scheider's performance does put in a bit more tension into these scenes, but it takes something more clever than that to keep things moving at a brisk pace.

The film does finally get moving in the last 35 or so minutes, and it's in those moments that make the film the overall effective sequel it is. The constant shark attacks deliver the goods. Szwarc knows how to milk tension into these scenes and doesn't disappoint. The finale is particularly an exercise in creating seat-gripping suspense. It's almost a match for the conclusion to Jaws. The final showdown between Brody and the shark is just as memorable and edge-of-the-seat as his final confrontation with the other great white in the original. John Williams' score is as effective as ever and serves to heighten the tension factor by a notch.

Admittedly, there are some implausibilities abound. Great whites aren't nearly that aggressive and for one that eats as much as it does, it's really quite hungry. The shark even pulls down a helicopter in one scene to presumably eat the pilot (In the TV version, there's an added scene of the shark trying to chomp the pilot). Brody's plan to kill the shark relies on quite a bit of luck, though I won't complain as much about this since it is the film's highlight sequence and is an example of masterful direction.

Most people tend to ridicule the visual effects in the Jaws series. In my opinion, they're more effective and significantly better than CGI renditions of animals seen in the more recent thrillers like Deep Blue Sea, Anaconda, and Lake Placid. Szwarc's high angle shots of the great white are the best, evoking a sense of terror by just looking at the top of this ferocious animal. With an animatronic shark, it's not nearly as mobile as what can be rendered by computer technology, but it beats having the animal look like a refugee from a video game. There are also other things that set this film above those aforementioned movies, such as restraint, seriousness, and no annoying over-reliance on mostly unfunny self-deprecating humor.

To mention how effective the script is would probably be a moot point. Anybody watching this movie wants to see it for the shark attacks. Howard Sackler and Carl Gottlieb do a reasonable job of repeating what was successful in the original story without completely ripping it off. This time around, there's no compelling monologue like Robert Shaw's retelling of the fate of the men on the U.S.S. Indianapolis, but the screenwriters can be credited for not writing any laughably ludicrous dialogue. When the stranded teens argue, everything they say is reasonable within the context of the situation they're in.

The film's performances are overall decent. Roy Scheider has always been one of my favorite actors; he's easily the best here and is very good as the man determined to save his sons. Martin Brody is still by all means a great character, and Scheider's portrayal of him as an everyman caught up in a terrifying situation makes it extremely easy to sympathize with him. Lorraine Gray is decent as his wife and though she gets more screen time than before she's still not given a chance to fully flesh out her character. And, boy, we all saw her character develop in Jaws the Revenge, but we all know how that turned out. Murray Hamilton and Joseph Mascolo are appropriately sneaky and sly as the town mayor and real estate developer. They're really not so much people as they are those who have to be wrong all the time. It's a cliche, and it's not as effective as it was in Jaws. I can't really say which actor who portrays the teens does the best job. They're all fairly equal and they are pretty good at not annoying us, which makes it easier to feel for them when the shark attacks begin.

It's basically like this: when the film takes place on land, it's sometimes slow-moving and not always interesting. When it's on water, it's often exciting and tense, with suspense that sometimes equals the original. It's definitely not as great a thriller as Jaws, but it is a worthy sequel and certainly is better than the likes of Deep Blue Sea, Anaconda, and Lake Placid.

No, this wasn't as good as the original, but it wasn't bad, either. In fairness, the audiences knew what to expect in this one and had already been shocked by the killer Great White Shark. Thus, it was no way audiences were going to react to the sequel as they did the first Jaws movie.

It didn't have Steven Spielberg directing, but it did have the same locale with same principal characters on "Amity:" mainly Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), his wife Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) so one didn't feel as if this was a completely new film. There was continuity to it, and we have the same problem (a big shark eating people). The main difference is that it is just a few years after the first horrifying incidents.

This story mainly involves Chief Brody's teenage kids and their friends. Overall, the film moves a little slowly the first hour, but picks up dramatically in the second half. In fact, it turns out quite intense, just like the first film. The main mistake the filmmakers made - which they wouldn't do today, was that it was too slow for too long. That, and the fact that the area residents apparently had a short memory; unrealistically short.

Anyway, the shark looks more realistic.....and if you can hang in there, you'll be rewarded with some good escapist entertainment in the second hour.

Was there ever a doubt that "Jaws 2" wouldn't stand a chance of equaling the original film? One could only hope that on its own level it was a decent film. And that is exactly what we get. To try and view this film and compare it to the original is an impossible task. The original "Jaws" is one of the great films of all time. Viewers need to approach "Jaws 2" with the first film completely out of mind.

The sequel picks up a few years after the first film. The setting is the same (Amity Island) and Roy Scheider is back as Chief Brody. Also returning are Murray Hamilton as the Mayor, Lorraine Gary as Mrs. Brody, and Jeffery Kramer as deputy Hendricks. Gary and Kramer have bigger parts this time around while Hamilton still mills about not doing much of anything as he did in the original.

The story this time centers around the teenagers of Amity Island headed by the older Brody sons (who are amazingly quite older then just the few years passed), particularly older brother Mike and his friends. They all like parasailing and you know what that means right? Early on Brody starts getting indications of another shark problem and takes his concerns to the town board and mayor. One of the biggest flaws in the film is their attitude, which is the same as the mayor's in the first film. Wouldn't you think they might have a little concern considering what had happened a few years earlier? The movie moves at a snail's pace for the first hour but things pick up in the second half once the teenagers take the sailboats out and realize the trouble that awaits them.

On the positive side the shark looks as good, if not better, then in the first film. It is completely convincing. Scheider gives his usual solid performance despite playing second fiddle to a mechanical fish. And the second half of the film is quite suspenseful at times. There is one shot that has to be seen to be believed. An unconscience Mike Brody is in the water with the shark fast approaching. His friends are trying to lift him into the boat. The shark comes out of the water and.... well I won't tell you what happens but I think it is the best shark shot in the entire series of "Jaws" films.

On the negative side the characters of the teenagers are pretty one dimensional and we don't get to know many of them well enough to care if they end up as shark dinner or not. One of the teens played by Donna Wilkes spends the last half hour doing nothing but screaming. The screams are so annoying either you almost wish she would fall in the water and be done with it. A scene with a helicopter in the water is as ridiculous as things can get. The ending (not revealed here) is a touch silly but if you think about it the ending to the original was no more silly.

In the end "Jaws 2" is a decent but not great followup. For those that truly dislike the film I invite them to watch "Jaws 3" or "Jaws: The Revenge". Those films make part 2 look like the classic the first one is.

If I were to make an appropriate comparison, Jaws 1 was a White shark bite, ferocious and huge, Jaws II would be a bite from a Blue Shark, still nasty, but lacking the ferocity.

The film reminds me of the Halloween follow up in so many ways, the first being a moment of cinema where the game was changed, a massive act to follow, both feel like a direct continuation of the first, both have quality, but lack the originality and impact of their predecessor.

Jaws II is slow to start, but as it gets going it really cranks up the tension, featuring some really good, tense moments. The shark has become a psycho killer instead of just a predator, and is now intent on killing its victims in the way Michael Myers did.

Some good strong special effects, I thought in several scenes the shark looked very realistic, I've never been a fan of the ending though, it's just a bit silly. Roy Schneider clearly did not want to do this film, and I think it shows in his performance, he is not happy.

It's a pretty good sequel, trouble is the original is a classic.

Jaws 2 (1978) is currently available on Tubi. The storyline follows the same Massachusetts small town in the first Jaws and the PTSD that went with the original experience. The sheriff's children are older and now can boat on the ocean on their own...which only complicates matters when it appears another series of shark attacks have begun. This movie is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (Ironsides) and stars Roy Scheider (French Connection), Lorraine Gary (1941), Murray Hamilton (The Graduate) and Joseph Mascolo (Heat). The storyline tries to pick up nicely from where the last one left off but had too many recycled elements - like no one believing the sheriff despite the previous film, the mayor and sheriff not getting along, etc. I will give this film credit for doing a good job with more great underwater shots. They do a good job of presenting the family dynamic as well. There's also some fantastic horror elements in this including the helicopter scene and boat crash. Overall this is an uneven movie with some great elements that is a fun watch. I'd score this a 6.5/10.