Review of Jaws 2 (1978) by Lord N — 08 Aug 2010

If I had to guess, the director for this movie looked at the first Jaws movie, took note of everything that made it suspenseful and creepy, and just decided to ignore it. Elements such as realistic elements and scene buildup. The biggest thing that the director did wrong though, that was a key element of the first film something that made the film even more creepy, was he showed the shark right off the bat. NIEN NIEN NIEN NIEN NIEN NIEN!!!! Part of the brilliance of the first film, was that you didn't get even a real glimpse of the shark until about an hour into the film. With this one, you knew exactly what it looked like 10 minutes in. I hated that. Also, I didn't like the lack of blood! I'm not asking for gallons of it, but some would be nice. That's another thing that made the first one good, Seeing a person pulled under in a geyser of blood is a little terrifying. People get ripped apart by sharks in this one and there is only one instance of blood. It was ridiculous. The acting and the screenplay were much poorer the second time around. It was difficult to watch and see how far down this one was when compared with the original Jaws film. It was just weak. However, there were some aspects of the film that were actually sort of entertaining. However, I will say this: all of the characters were much stupider the second time around. It was just an overall weak film.

TRIVIA TIME: 1. Marc Gilpin (Sean Brody) claims that when they were shooting one of the scenes on the makeshift raft of wrecked yachts, they were being circled by a real hammerhead shark. All the actors were scared and began to scream and holler at the production crew who were filming that particular scene from a distance. The crew were oblivious to the danger and assumed the actors were simply 'in character' and gave them the thumbs up!

2. In one of the boat scenes a young man is seen reading a book: "Jaws" by Peter Benchley.

3. On the Brodys' front porch is a flower planter painted bright yellow. It is one of the barrels from the first Jaws.