Review of Jaws 2 (1978) by Jeff A — 08 Jun 2010

A double-edged sword---and that is not a term I often use, by the way---Jaws 2 is inevitably going to be seen as an average movie because of the reflexive comparison to Spielberg's film. But let's look at Jaws 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge, two of the most deplorably stupid, utterly boring and shamelessly campy cash-ins one could ever stumble upon, two films that are only accessible in the mainstream because of their unfortunate affiliation with one of the most successful movies in American cinema history. Now look at Jaws 2, which by comparison is a vastly superior, very skillful and thoughtfully continuous shark attack film. It is the go-between flanked by the milestone which inspired it and the disasters which it inspired. Once again I can't get out of this hole with the double-edged sword thing. I suppose the verdict is that it's the best one can practically expect from a sequel to a turning-point film by a different director.

Made in 1978, hot off the blockbusting coat tails of Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, spectacle-minded producers and audiences alike seem to have begun to forget that the most effective suspense came from what wasn't always being shown and what wasn't entirely understood, and that the imagination is able to conceive far worse than the objectification of a simple mechanical monster. Nevertheless, Szwarc centralizes the dismay by intercutting between the teenagers, Chief Brody, and the government's endeavors to save them, generating enough tension to keep us stimulated. So as a slasher sequel, it's not half bad.