Review of Jaws 2 (1978) by Cal ( — 22 Mar 2010

"I think we may have another shark problem...

Unlike the other lucrative blockbusters of the '70s (such as Star Wars, Superman, etc), Steven Spielberg's Jaws did not lend itself particularly well to a sequel. After all, the story was about a shark terrorising a small island community, and the shark was killed during the picture's climax. With the titular monster dead and the main story arc closed, not much room was left for a continuing saga. However, with Jaws earning big bucks at the box office (over $400 million worldwide from a reported $8.5 million budget), the studio ordered a sequel. Shouldering the intimidating weight of its predecessor and burdened with high audience expectations, Jaws 2 could've been a slapdash catastrophe made for a fast buck all round, but it is instead surprisingly serviceable, suspenseful fun.

Jaws 2 is set a few years after the events of Jaws, and the narrative unfolds in the same placid island community of Amity where Police Chief Martin Brody (Scheider) patrols with diligence. After a string of mysterious boating accidents and disappearances, Brody grows suspicious that another Great White Shark is on the prowl, but, once again, the mayor and the city council refuse to listen. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Amity, he's right. Brody persists until he loses his job, and is eventually compelled into action when he finds out that his two sons and their friends are stuck in the middle of the ocean; stalked by the monster shark.

When placed against Spielberg's original masterpiece, Jaws 2 frankly looks as pale as shark-eaten bodies. For those of you rolling your eyes in wonderment at the fact that another unnaturally huge White Pointer swims to Amity to terrorise the same group of people... Your pain is shared. It's a long shot, and the plot device seems manufactured for the sake of a sequel. But once you suspend your disbelief and accept the film on its own merits (of which there are many), Jaws 2 is a lot of fun. For starters, the main characters are a bunch of teenagers, and, though it's difficult keeping tabs on who's who, we do grow to care about them. The script posits these teens as resourceful, bright people who react realistically to the situation, and it's for this reason that tension is felt when they're placed in peril. However, at nearly two hours in length, Jaws 2 could've benefitted from a bit of trimming. There are uneventful lags which lack both the economy and the zippiness of the original Jaws. Another sorely missed asset is Spielberg's brand of visual panache, as Jaws 2 is aesthetically dull most of the time. Added to this, the filmmakers continually tried to up the ante, so scenes of pure absurdity are thrown in, such as when the shark attacks a helicopter and manages to drag it underwater.

To state the bloody obvious, director Jeannot Szwarc is no Steven Spielberg. Szwarc adopted a similar shooting style to Spielberg, but is unable to generate the same brand of unbearable tension. The shark is seen far too often this time, and, consequently, it's less terrifying. Like the original Jaws, the mechanical sharks here look incredibly fake. In actual fact, the shark effects here are far less convincing than those in the first film. It'd be unreasonable to expect incredibly realistic shark effects in a '70s film, but it's a tremendous problem that the effects have declined in quality, rather than improved. That said, Szwarc nevertheless managed to orchestrate several chilling, effective shark attack sequences, and he still generated an admirable amount of tension, especially during the film's latter half when the teens are always vulnerable to an attack as they float on a jumbled mass of broken, half-sunk sailboats and catamarans. John Williams' score, which is very reminiscent of the original film, is also fantastic, and the competent editing certainly contributed to the film's success.

Unfortunately, there's no Richard Dreyfuss or Robert Shaw in this sequel, and none of the characters are as interesting as those played by Dreyfuss and Shaw in the original film. What we're left with is an engaging Roy Scheider as Brody, a less interesting Murray Hamilton as the mayor (who rushed the filming of his scenes so he could be with his cancer-stricken wife, hence the dull performance), Jeffrey Kramer who reprised his role as Deputy Hendricks with endearing zeal, and Lorraine Gary who's perfectly adequate as Martin's wife Ellen.

Jaws 2, naturally, will never be labelled as a masterpiece like its predecessor, and it's a giant step down from the landmark first film, but it's better than most of the knock-offs that plagued theatres in the post-Jaws era. It's an energetic, fun thriller with numerous chilling set-pieces and an admirable amount of honest-to-goodness tension, and it should prove worthwhile to those clamouring for a Jaws follow-up. It's unfortunate that the Jaws franchise is usually regarded as one good film followed by three abominations to mankind. While a case can definitely be made for the catastrophic Jaws 3 and Jaws the Revenge, this second film gets too much of an unfair bad rap by association.