Review of Jaws 2 (1978) by Richard R — 09 Jun 2009

A sequel from which much may have been expected but very little was actually delivered. The simple reason for this is that Steven Spielberg chose not to get on board for this one, he was busy working on his underrated movie 1941 (1979) and scouting for his next legendary film which would prove to be the first of the Indiana Jones series.

The production team did, though, manage to retain the services of Murray Hamilton, Lorraine Gray and Roy Schneider but the elements which make the first film so marketable and memorable are absent here under the stewardship of Jeannot Szwarc.

There are a few minor moments of inspiration but this was one of the franchises which set the trend for 'cash-in' nature of Hollywood blockbusters. More often than not the magic is never there the second time round (Godfather Part II (1974) & Mad Max II (1981) are amongst the rare exceptions.

Once again the little beach resort town of Amity (might as well call it 'Amityville') is under attack from a malevolent shark who this time is after revenge following the death of its equally brutish offspring at the hands of one of the town's residents.

It is up to our reliable sheriff to use his wily skills to save the teenagers of the town who become stranded on sail boats following a botched day out on the sea. Looking back, one could even say that the film tried to cash in on the new wave of films in which teenagers were turned into mincemeat by movie killers such as the ones in The Last House on the Left (Wes Craven, 1972), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), instead of sticking to the principles which made the first Jaws (1975) one of the finest original ideas we have yet seen.

And, of course, they are missing the directorial leadership of SS. Throwaway fun and frights in a film which is par for the course and possibly the last in the series worth watching.