Terrible Sequels

For the few who don't know, my favorite genre of film is Horror. So, I am quite used to 'terrible sequels'.

But that isn't really enough, is it?

My favorite movie is Jaws. But as much as I love that film, it's 3 sequels leave something to be desired, with each one becoming worse. So, let's dive in (probably a bad idea for a shark movie), shall we?

​

Before I get into Jaws 2, it is important to understand why it was made. With the success of Jaws, the grandfather of the Summer blockbuster, something that we still experience today, it is obvious that Universal wanted to cash in on that. After all, Jaws was a bold and daring movie for a studio. You rarely saw a film released across the nation, before then; and you rarely see a film not released across the nation, after this. This risk paid off.

But this is where the problems begin. For one, Universal had already starting work on a sequel, before the original had run it's course. The studio wanted to hurry up and release a follow-up, while the first film was still a hot commodity. During all of this, there were budget cuts, hiring and firing of the film crew, and some tension between some of the actors. Most notably, Roy Scheider, who played Chief Brody in the original film, wanted no part of it. After some back and forth, Universal made him a deal: since he dropped out of The Deer Hunter, another film, the studio wanted him to film Jaws 2, and they'd consider Scheider's contract fulfilled, if he did this. It was agreed, and the sequel now had a selling point... aside from the shark, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The other problem Universal had was, where to go with the sequel? What about the shark? It was apparent to everybody who saw the first film, that Chief Brody had blown it's fucking head off! So, instead of pulling a voodoo shark trick, the studio did the next worst thing: ANOTHER crazed shark is terrorizing the beaches.

With no real direction to go, other than to milk the original's success, Universal gave the green light... and what we got is:




The film begins underwater, from the point of view of the shark, as did the 1975 film. Only this is 1978, and we've seen this before. Now, I'll admit, the music in this film is quite excellent. But what can you expect from John Williams? Yeah, that John Williams. It makes several scenes more bearable, than if anybody else had attempted to conduct the soundtrack, which is important for this next scene...

Two no-name scuba divers are exploring the ocean depths, and discover the shipwrecked remains of the Orca, the ship from the previous (and better) film. Anybody with half a brain knows what is going to happen...

Scuba Diver #1: "Hey, Chuck, you see this?"
Chuck: "Yeah, man. It's the Orca."
Scuba Diver #1: "No, it's a cheap ploy to connect this movie, to the first."​

These two guys are attacked by, what can only be another Great White Shark. I mean, what else can it be? One of the two divers, even has time to snap a few pictures, before he is killed...

Compared to the first film's opening attack, this is pretty tame. But what saves it is John Williams' score, which has a very foreboding echo sound to it. Still, a pretty weak opening, but hey, the film has just began, maybe it'll get better. Right?

... RIGHT?​

Here we learn it's been about 4 years, since "the last time a Great White Shark terrorized the beaches", and time has not exactly been kind to Amity Island. Chief Brody is still the chief of police, and Mayor Vaughan is, somehow, still the Mayor of Amity. This begs the question, how did this guy get re-elected? It was, primarily, his fault the beaches were open in the first film...

Where this:


And this happened:
​

Unfortunately, this is never really answered, and the viewer just has to accept, Amity has a significant amnesia epidemic, or every voter there is a fucking idiot -- take your pick, because the film won't do it for you.

As everybody begins to enjoy some Summertime fun, totally oblivious to the new shark's shenanigans, we learn a little about the town since the first film. It isn't thriving as it once did, due to the previous shark's antics, but it is beginning to recover. Naturally, Amity wants to get over the past and make that money. Also, Chief Brody's kids have had a huge growth spurt since the previous film, four years ago, and like many things in this movie, it goes unaddressed.

Get used to that. It'll make watching this film a little bit more bearable, if you quit questioning what happens, or what has happened.

We now cut to a beautiful early evening bright sunny Summer afternoon, where the sound of a motor boat is heard, and a water skier is seen. It is interesting to note here, some shots, take place at a different time than the others. Basically, they had to shoot when the ocean was behaving; some some shots are, obviously, early evening, while the remainder are the afternoon. Just a happy time, out and about, enjoying the Summer day, without a care in the wor-- Oh, SHIT~!!!

You expected me to make some 'fast food' pun here, didn't you? Admit it!​

This scene is, probably, the best in the entire film. But that isn't saying much! Again, John Williams delivers with the score. Apparently, this scene was very difficult to shoot, with what technologies and techniques they had, back in 1978. The issue was always, trying to get the shark to move fast enough, behind the water skier. Eventually, they settled on stock shark footage, some trick shots, and a little bit of luck.

I know, why would a shark waste it's time chasing down a water skier? To you, I ask, why would a forum-goer waste their time reading this? Mm.

So, Jaws 2.0 has made it's first official coastal water attack, by chasing down and eating the water skier. The water skier's mother, who is driving the boat, notices her daughter is no longer above the water, and turns around to pick her up. Pulling up to where her daughter's skis are, she notices some bite marks near the back-end of them, but before two and two can be put together...

Actually, I'll just show you the scene:

[YOUTUBE]TkCTqg_f6LA[/YOUTUBE]​

I can't lie, when that dorsal fin slices atop the water, and that music kicks in. That is a pretty awesome moment. I just can't say much after the shark gets the water skier, because it's awkwardly stupid. Sure, I suppose the mother is scared, but dumping gasoline on yourself like that, then shooting a flare gun... either she's not too bright, or she's a supreme bad ass, who is intent on ruining that shark's day, by burning a scar into the right side of it's face.

Either way, the motor boat blows up, and this is witnessed, on shore, by an elderly woman. Being a sensible woman, she notifies the police. Chief Brody arrives and conducts an interview, which doesn't really answer anything. During this, we meet two teenagers, who we will get to know a little later on. It is brought to the attention of the chief of police that a beached killer whale has appeared, with huge bite marks on it.


A little fun fact. With the success of the original Jaws, copycats came out of the wood works, with one of the most infamous being a 1977 film called Orca. Apparently, the choice of a killer whale being a victim of the shark, was Universal's way of getting back at that film... and if making a less than stellar sequel is your way of getting revenge, Universal, then bra-fuckin'-vo, you succeeded!


Almost immediately, Brody believes it to be a shark, but of course, this being Amity, nobody wants to give the man credit. After all, that one shark attack four years ago, was just a fluke. It isn't like sharks have a personal vendetta... at least until Jaws: The Revenge they don't, but we'll get to that piece of shit soon enough, trust me...

In fact, Brody even asks a specialist, after seeing the bite marks on the killer whale:

"You don't think that a shark was destroyed, then another shark will come?"​

To which the specialist answers, as any sane-minded person would respond with, sharks don't take things personally.


Now, this is a critical moment for the viewer. They have three options:

Option 1: Turn the film off, and go about their life.
Option 2: Accept it as having happened, and just roll with the punches.
Option 3: Begin to wonder if all of this is just Chief Brody's imagination; if his first experience with a shark, sent him on the path to insanity.

You know I didn't go with Option 1, so this leaves 2 and 3. As a child, I went with Option 2. Now, many years later, I tend to go with a mixture of 2 and 3. It makes the film more interesting, if you do this.


There's a cheap jump scene, somewhere, with a charred body (remember gasoline-and-flare woman?), that is set up, as to imply to the viewer, that the shark is stalking Brody. It's so silly, I barely want to give it dignity by acknowledging it.

After this, we're treated to a scene at the Brody family table:

Michael: Dad, can I go sailing with my friends?
Chief Brody: Absolutely not.
Michael: But why?
Chief Brody: My shark sense is tingling something fierce, that's why.
Michael: But DAAAAAAAD~!​

Okay, so the scene doesn't go exactly like that, but it may as well have! All we learn here is, Brody has his son set up with a summer job, that will last until he goes back to school. Naturally, fulfilling the rebellious teenage son role, Michael decides he'll just sneak out and go sailing anyway. Yeah, take that old man!

Brody is then shown on the beach, in his "watch tower". Any attempt to question it's real name is quickly dismissed, by the mayor, who obviously hasn't learned to trust a man with a keen shark sense. The film decides to go for a cheap scare by having a mysterious shadow appear, in the ocean. Brody, who is already beginning to display signs of paranoia, causes a ruckus by ordering everybody out of the water. Then, to make matters more chaotic, Brody fires his revolver into the water...

... and we learn, it was just a school of bluefish. Brody has made a fool of himself, and the mayor has no choice but to remove him from office.

There is another decent scene, here. As Brody, in shame, begins to pick up his bullet shells, his youngest son, Sean, also does the same thing. This is an attempt to harp back to the original film, where Brody and Sean mimic one another, while Mrs. Brody watches from a quiet distance. I give this scene a passing grade, but it still doesn't excuse what is to come!

Remember those no-name divers, from the beginning of the film? Neither do I, but their camera and film is discovered, then developed. One of the pictures sticks out to Brody, which he takes to the Town Hall, as proof that there "is another shark problem":

You be the judge. Is there something 'fishy' going on?​

Of course, being Amity, nobody wants to give the man credit. After failing to reason with them, Brody gives, quite possibly, his best line in the entire film, as his final attempt to get through to everyone:

"You bet your life I made up my mind, but I'm telling you and everybody in this room, that's a shark. I know what a shark looks like because I've seen one up close. And you better do something about this one, because I don't intend to go through that hell again!"​

One of the few attempts, if not the only attempt, at connecting this film to the original, that works. But despite this fine piece of dialogue, none of the members of the Town Hall are moved. The beaches will remain open, and Brody will have to deal with it. Brody's deputy, Hendricks, is assigned as the new police chief.

I'd like to take a moment and cover a deleted scene, that is available on the DVD. Sometimes, when aired on television, they include this scene, too. The scene I am referring to happens when Brody makes his case, and everybody on the town council goes to the back room, and vote on whether or not to remove Brody from his position.

When the council goes to vote, Mayor Vaughan is reluctant. In fact, he's the only one who doesn't vote against Brody, but he is outvoted. This is a touching scene, because it shows, deep down, Vaughan is in a tough spot and wants to help Brody out. But, as seems to always be the case, big money prevails.

With no job, Brody returns home. The next day, his son Michael sneaks out, but while doing so, catches the attention of younger brother Sean. Sean blackmails Michael into taking him, too, or else he'll tell mom and dad. With no choice, Michael agrees, and the two Brody kids head off to the rendezvous point.

NEXT TIME: Jaw-lly Good Times on the Open Ocean!!!​

a.k.a. I'll finish Jaws 2, and proceed to Jaws 3-D.​

 

The first hour of Jaws 2 focuses primarily on Chief Brody, and the shark, with some time (and by 'some' I mean, very little) dedicated to our second-half stars: the Amity teenagers.

If you're expecting me to give you a list of names, you're in for a disappointment.​

See, none of these teenagers are all that memorable, save three. Of those three, I only like two, and the other one... well, we'll get to them when the time is right. So, which two do I like?

This guy:


Little fun fact. Keith Gordon, here, would go on to be in a few films.
But what most don't know is, he also directs. He has directed such shows as House and Dexter.

We'll get to the other one, I assure you.​

Michael Brody, taking his little brother Sean along, meet up with their pals for a fun-filled day of sailing. All kinds of rebellious teenage shenanigans are planned, like drinking, premarital sex, and in the case of Michael, disobeying his parents!

The teens plus one kid (Sean) pair off in their respective sailboats, and take the the sea. Along the way, they pass by a group of divers, who are just beginning to descend into the dark depths. With some 'silly' exchanges made, the two groups break apart, with the teenagers going further out and the divers going underwater.

This begins another acceptable scene, though it is a fairly predictable one. One of the divers, while looking for various sea critters, for whatever purpose, is swimming along, with John Williams' epic score in the background:

[YOUTUBE]wG94bhgRu7I[/YOUTUBE]​

As that clip shows, the shark attempts to have another meal, but fails. Barely. To be honest, that diver has mad reflexes, to be able to just dodge a big-ass shark like that. So, props to him.

Understandably, this freaks the diver out, so he rushes to the top. He suffers from embolism, due to surfacing way too fast, but can you blame the man? I'd probably have bolted to the surface waaaaaay faster than he did!

As the teens continue their sailing adventure, two of them, named Tina and Eddie, straggle behind. But not because anything is wrong with their sailboat; it's because the two love birds wish to engage in a little hanky panky. It is worth pointing out, here, that Tina is Amity High's Prom Queen -- she's obviously one hot, popular babe.

"Tina's Joy", oh, how ironic... still, they looked cute enough.​

It's here that we learn something else about this shark. Up until this point, the Great White was simply going to extreme lengths to feed. But here, Tina and Eddie's boat is hit by the shark, which causes Eddie to lose his balance and fall overboard. Tina, still in the boat, is drug along quite a distance due to the shark.

Eventually, the shark 'releases' the boat, but it has stranded Eddie quite a ways away from it. Predictably, the shark turns around, and begins to make towards easy prey, now satisfied with achieving major cock-block status; with Tina realizing, there's a fucking shark swimming towards her man.

I'm on the fence with this scene. It has some good elements, but it also suffers from some not-so-good elements. What do I mean? Well...

For one, I like the intensity of it. With the shark fast approaching, Eddie, fueled by adrenaline, begins swimming like a madman in an attempt to reach the boat. But Tina isn't really doing much, but shouting, " SWIM, EDDIE! SWIM! ". She could, at least, paddle the damn boat towards him. But I suppose, she's panicked about a Great White closing in on our boyfriend, and isn't thinking clearly.

I'd have put something here, but there isn't a decent-enough quality clip of this scene, surprisingly. So, I'll say this: The actress that plays Tina, Ann Dusenberry, is the best performer in this film -- I know, is it possible for there to be a 'best' performer in this movie? LOL! But yes, she outshines Roy Scheider as Chief Brody; that is largely because of the script, though. For what he was given to work with, Scheider isn't too bad. But Dusenberry really gets into her role, here, and in another scene, that we'll cover shortly.​

Despite a valiant effort, a human is just not able to match a shark's speed in the water, and Eddie is snatched. But the shark isn't done, oh no, see, Jaws 2.0 isn't just content with being a cock-blocker, so it rapidly drags Eddie across the surface, towards the boat. Slamming into the boat, Eddie grips the side of it, locks eyes with Tina for a moment... and with one violent pull is pried off the boat, and down into his watery grave. As if the shark is saying, Ha ha, bitch! This is for all the unpopular girls!

Little fun fact. While never explicitly stated in the film, in the Jaws 2 novelization (LOL, whaaaat? Never knew this film had a book, too? Oh, we'll address that, before the end of this), the shark is a female. It's also the supposed mate of the first film's shark.

One thing that many don't notice, at least at first is, how firmly Eddie was clinging to the side of the boat. When the shark yanks him down, he BREAKS OFF A PIECE OF THE BOAT. This is a nice subtle touch, because it shows, how afraid Eddie was, but also how strong this shark is.

Tina, all alone, begins to cry and whimper. With her boyfriend's blood surrounding the boat, she is totally helpless and afraid.

Chief Brody, now, heads to town, where he learns about the close-call diver's situation, when he witnesses the man being put into an ambulance. He (correctly) deduces, this must be the work of a shark. After all, nobody on Amity Island has as fine a shark sense as he does. About this time, Brody is also informed of his son's defiance, by sneaking out and going sailing. Realizing that this probably won't end well, he takes to the sea, to do battle with the suspected beast.

You think she's in the fetal position because her boyfriend got killed, in front of her,
but really, it's the fact, she knows we're getting closer to Jaws 3-D.​

Tina is eventually found by Chief Brody, Hendricks, and Mrs. Brody, shivering in the fetal position. Brody's shark sense is tingling something fierce. Tina, in an obvious state of shock, is only able to cry out one word:

SHARK​

That's all he needs to know. Chief Brody leaves Hendricks and his wife, to tend to Tina and take her ashore in a signaled boat. Brody heads out to find the teenagers, and to do battle with the confirmed beast.

Meanwhile, our rowdy bunch of rebellious ruffians are having a good time, just sailing along towards their party destination. A small rocky island called Cable Junction. Why they want to go all the way out there, is beyond me, but hey, I also don't go swimming in a town that has vengeful killer fish either.

Cable Junction.
Party fuckin' Central, y'all!
Here it is!​

Doug (the name of one of my favorites) is a class clown, or so we are to believe with only a few seconds of on-screen time, which would explain why he is attempting to humor everyone, with some kind of jolly sailor impression. During this class act, his boat, which is practically a rubber raft with a patched sail on it, pops. Everybody else laughs until... the shark shows up, headbutting (or would it be nosebutting?) Doug's rubber joke-of-a-boat, and knocking him into the water.

Unlike Eddie, Doug is a pretty fast swimmer, as he is able to avoid being eaten. However, the shark attempts to attack the other boats, causing mass panic... basically, a lot of screaming, a lot of splashing, a lot of shark shots, with John Williams music behind it all. During all of this pandemonium, Michael Brody, hits his head and stumbles into the water...

You already know where this is going.

The shark circles back, in an attempt to eat -- yet again. To the casual viewer, it would just seem this shark is a savage killer, or just very, very hungry. But do you remember when I mentioned the Jaws 2 novelization? No, well, I don't blame you, LOL, but here's the deal: the shark in this film is supposed to be a female, and the mate of the original film's shark. In the novelization, which was based on an earlier script, the shark is pregnant. This is supposed to explain it being far more aggressive, and why it continually eats like it does.

Basically, anything pregnant is scary.

In one of the most cited scenes, as to why the film is terrible, the teenagers save Michael from his doom, but by mere inches. The shark scrapes along the side of their boat, in an attempt to snatch him. It is here that you can see, in a few frames, the inner mechanical workings of the shark, via it's mouth. I suppose, that is worth noting, but it has always paled in comparison to something else, about this scene, that doesn't seem to be addressed. How the shark looks, scraping across the boat, is absolutely ridiculous, like it has a rubber head:

Does this even need a caption?​

After this failed attempt at a snack, the shark disappears for a bit. Collecting themselves, the teenagers survey the area, and check out the collateral damage. One of the boats is able to sail, so Michael Brody is put on there, in an attempt to get him to shore, for medical treatment.

This brings up two points that never get addressed, and I know. I'm breaking my own rule, about questioning this movie, or expecting it to address much of anything.

The shark just lets this one sailboat go. Why it does, we'll never know. But if we go by the logic established, later, in Jaws: The Revenge, the shark, having taken the events of the first film seriously, let it go, so as to lure Chief Brody to it. This is absolutely stupid, but it's the only logical (and I use that word VERY loosely here) reason, considering this shark just attacked the other boats, without reservation.

Secondly, what happened to this shark? It could chase down a water skier, with no real problem, but it can't catch swimming teens? Either Eddie is was that much of a terrible swimmer, or this shark is getting lazy. Who knows? We certainly won't because, as usual, this movie doesn't address much of anything!

The teenagers, who are all still atop a jarred pile mess of boats, which is the only thing keeping them atop the water, and as far away as possible from suddenly-lazy shark, await rescue. Yeah, I just can't let that go, why the shark just let that one single boat go. Before Brody's boat can get to them, as he is still a ways off, an Amity harbor patrol helicopter shows up, much to the joy of the teens. He even offers to provide them a lift back to shore, by attaching a rope to their mess of boats, and pulling them.

There's still 30+ minutes in this film, this can't be how it ends...



Thought so.​

Somehow, this shark... pulls a harbor patrol helicopter, down, into the water. Never mind the fact this is pushing credibility, there's also the fact, the blades, for whatever reason, don't even cut the shark.

But it doesn't end here. Once the helicopter goes under, it flips upside down, and now the pilot is face-to-face with a terrible choice: leave the relative safety of his cockpit and be eaten, or stay in his cockpit and drown. The shark, being impatient, decides to make his choice for him. It continues battering and gnawing at the helicopter.

Now, it's never established exactly what happens to the pilot. In fact, this scene is often times edited, making it much shorter. In most prints, once the shark pulls the pilot down, that's it. You just see the helicopter, smashed, beginning to sink. But in the extended prints, you see the entire underwater sequence. However, even there, it isn't clear what happens. We don't know if the pilot drowns or is eaten, but it's safe to assume he was eaten. I mean, he doesn't have an anti-shark sailboat now, does he?

During all of this, bits and pieces of the helicopter go flying off, and cause more damage to the pile of boats. Chaos ensues, and people start falling into the water. One of which is the young Sean Brody...

Remember earlier, when I said I only liked two of the teenagers? Well, here's the other one:

Lucky kid. Getting all close to her, like that.​

Marge, who earlier said she would take care of Sean, demonstrating she must be a pretty cool chick, dives in to help the child. Of course, this attracts the attention of the shark, who makes it's way towards Marge and Sean.

Okay. That is kind of scary.​

While Marge is able to get Sean back onto a piece of the wreckage, she is unable to get up herself, constantly slipping and sliding off the side...

And then:


[YOUTUBE]rHf_CaeJax4[/YOUTUBE]


That is fucking horrifying.​

Marge wasn't just swallowed, if you listen carefully, there's a crunching sound. While you don't really know what went down, aside from her being swallowed whole, it is sensible to assume she was crushed in the shark's throat. Whatever actually happened, this plays into one of my irrational fears: being eaten alive. Naturally, this scene does not sit well with me.

During all of this, there's a scene where Mrs. Brody, back on shore, chews out the mayor and his business buddy, about firing her husband. Obviously, they should have believed her husband's uncanny ability to sense shark shenanigans.

Finally, the unmolested sailboat, that the shark, for some reason, earlier, let go, comes across Chief Brody, who sees that his son, Michael, while a little hurt, is otherwise okay. From his own son's mouth, he learns of the shark's whereabouts. Telling the shark-proof sailboat's crew to go on, Brody now knows where to go, and the fated battle will be had.

We cut back to the teenagers, whose only hope is to coast to Cable Junction. Beyond that, is the open sea, which is where the shark seems to want them to go. Why it wants them to go out there, is beyond me, but this shark is beginning to demonstrate serial killer tendencies. Brody arrives, begins to pull the teenagers to Cable Junction and to safety, and the shark attacks, obviously eager to do... something... in revenge for... what happened to another shark, or something? I don't really know, but the shark is attacking, and in the ruckus Brody crashes his police boat into the rocky shore, while snagging an underwater power line.

Now, this is where the film breaks a Horror stereotype. Most would-be victims tend to remain helpless, but most of the teenagers, seeing what happened, decide it is better to dive into the water and swim the short distance, to Cable Junction, than to await being picked off one by one, atop their wrecked rafts. For this, I applaud their sensibility.

Despite a close call, all of the teenagers make it to shore... except two. Brody's son Sean, and a girl named Jackie. Remember earlier, when I said only three of the teenagers are memorable? Well, Jackie is one of them.

Jackie isn't necessarily memorable for anything remarkable, except that she goes into absolute freak out mode, while the shark is attacking, but it reaches a new level here:

​

I always have that scene cross my mind, whenever I think of the Jaws series. I'm on the fence, as to whether that means she sold me, or she just annoyed me. I don't try to think too hard about it, but her freaking out stands out.

The shark attacks Jackie and Sean, forcing Brody to do something. He pulls out an inflatable raft, ties it around himself, and makes his way across the underwater power line, that he has pulled up, and begins to beat against it with a wooden oar. This attracts the shark to him, where this happens:

[YOUTUBE]fcsEHpznZpE[/YOUTUBE]​

I have three problems with this sequence of events.

One, why does the shark come directly at Brody? It could have come around him, but, I chalk this up to, the shark being attracted to the noise. So, I'll let this one slide.

Two, "Open wide! Say, 'Ah'!", really? How do you go from, in the first film, "Smile, you son of a bitch!" to that? I'll let this slide, too, but with a wagging finger, because Brody did kill a shark -- twice. I can't compete with that.

Three, this shark can pull helicopters with no real problem, but it can't get through a power line... shocking, really.

Anyway, the shark is electrocuted and burned to death, then sinks to the bottom of the ocean, leaving the teenagers and Brody to celebrate, in their own ways.

That's Chief Brody 2, Jaws 0.

The film wraps up with everybody getting onto Cable Junction, where everybody should realize, how fuckin' awesome Brody is, while they wait for their inevitable rescue.




And that's Jaws 2, in a nutshell. All that really remains to be said is, the final result is not what was originally intended. If you want to know, what the original script was going to be like, there is the Jaws 2 novelization, which was written with that script in mind. There's a few changes in terms of scene order, but the two most significant pieces of information are, the shark's gender and relation to the first shark, and why the Mayor of Amity, despite the first film's events, is still reluctant to close the beaches the second time. Basically, dirty politics; the mayor owes the Mafia money, and he needs the beaches open, to generate the income, so that he can pay back the Mafia-owed loans he obtained.

It's... an interesting read, for comparison purposes, but it may not be for everyone.

So, how does this sequel rank? Obviously, it doesn't come close to the original Jaws film. But you can't expect it to do that, no sane person would. So, that knocks it down 1-star.

Special effects-wise, it has hits and misses. I understand, this is 2014 we live in, and this film was shot in the mid-1970s, so, it would be unfair to make that comparison. Considering I know the behind-the-scenes troubles, I cannot be too harsh on this. I'd say, the film is fine... when it delivers.

Some of the shots, like from the harbor patrol pilot's cockpit, when the shark is rising from the water, is pretty nice-looking. So, this helps balance out the special effects department, I think.

Plot-wise, it's a fuckin' mess. Since I've read the novelization, I can put some pieces together, and fill in the gaps, but the casual viewer won't. The film goes back and forth, between trying to tie into the original film, and trying to stand on it's own, by raising the stakes. This shark is just reckless and wild, as well as a dick. I give this a half-star.

Characters-wise, it isn't all that grand. The teenagers are not given enough time, for one, so they don't really get to stand out. The only exceptional characters are Tina and Chief Brody, who run with the script as best they can. Tina, while she isn't in many scenes, plays her role fine. Chief Brody is interesting to see, as an unraveling paranoid individual, still plagued by the events of the first film. Also, a drunk Brody, after losing his job is kind of amusing. Other than that, nothing to write type home about.


Out of a four star ranking, I'd give Jaws 2:

** out of ****.

Worth one viewing, but nothing more.

NEXT TIME: Jaw-esitively Dumb Times!​

a.k.a. I'll actually get to Jaws 3-D.​

 

Because I'm slacking and need to get on Jaws 3... dear Lord in Heaven, help me... also, maybe others have some contributions they'd like to make.

 

I liked the one fellow, who was the unofficial leader of the inmates, who was always talking like a pastor. Fuck, his name escapes me right now. He was my favorite.

That whole movie is dark, which is why I like it. As a kid I wasn't too fond of it, but after seeing Resurrection, and going back with an older eye and mind, Alien 3 has grown on me.

It actually feels more like an Alien movie than Aliens does. Yeah, I said it. Despite how much I love Aliens, it feels very out of place, when you look at 1 and 3.

If we ignore the how-did-the-egg-get-there predicament, it wasn't terrible, and it was pretty damn ballsy to say fuck you to the cliche happy ending of Aliens. I think that is why I let Alien 3 slide, because despite it's problems, it was the most unpredictable of them all: the crash in the beginning and those casualties, Clemens dying, and even Ripley not, somehow, surviving like she had before.