'JAWS 2' is the sequel to 1975's 'JAWS' and once again stars Roy Scheider along with Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton returning as well. If any movie did NOT need a sequel, it is definitely 'JAWS'. However, at this time nothing had ever seen as much success at the box office at the time. 'JAWS' holds many 'first' records, including the first film in history to reach $100 million in revenue, so naturally it made sense for Universal to do something with this (I still stand by the 'leave it be' thought process). My wishful thinking aside, 'JAWS 2' did happen three years after the original film and really for a worst-case-scenario film such as this...it's really not all bad. The ocean floor is murky here at best, but overall still a fun diving experience nonetheless.
If you saw the original film, the premise is pretty much the same but done much poorer and cheaper. The funny thing to think about this film, is that its almost a precursor to the 1980's slasher films that would follow in the wake of John Carpenter's 'Halloween'. The shark in this film primarily stalks and kills teenagers that go out sailing to party and get together with their dates. The shark is Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers and it's best to go into 'JAWS 2' with this mentality as it feels very much like a cheap horror film (a fate that Mr. Spielberg saved the original from). That's not to say that everything is lesser in the film. The returning cast is amazing as always, despite the infamous behind the scenes troubles (a fistfight between the director and Scheider being the most known) they do work well in this film and help it stand out.
The best part of 'JAWS 2' is also one of the many best parts of its predecessor, and that is the return of composer John Williams doing the score for the sequel as well. His distinctive and brilliant style comes out once again with some of his more underrated themes present here. On the low side of things, the action and even the suspense is completely dulled and poor, especially when compared to the original. That horror feeling comes from worse aspects than what I mentioned above. Characters do STUPID things, such as a woman dumping gasoline on herself (it looks so deliberate) then fires a flare at the shark and blows herself up. Why did she do that? Because they couldn't write anything clever I guess. The original shooting script and playing musical chairs with the director has also caused poor filmmaking here with the fact that no one in town believes Brody when they should out of sheer convenience and its frankly very irritating, they should have tried another way.
'JAWS 2' has a lot of problems, most of them due to rushing it into production without thought and a lack of a good time behind the scenes. It's purpose was merely to bank on the original, however it could have been a good sequel rather than an average one. It's a fun movie sure and it's nowhere near the train wrecks that are '3-D' & 'JAWS: THE REVENGE' but you feel frustration the whole time you watch this film because it SHOULD have been better. It COULD have been better, but money talks more than patience and thought in Hollywood so we're stuck with this. At least we have the original though.
JAWS 2 GETS A:
C-
PROS:
-Returning Cast
-Music
-Fun and Cheesy Feel
CONS:
-Lack of Polish
-Reduced to a Slasher Film
-Characters are really Stupid
Click the Link Below to check out a sample piece from the score by John Williams
(Sample: Favorite Piece From 'JAWS 2' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLeZIJtLo1M&list=PL9Jm5vxTKDj7QCrbw1SgfHwKoEQ7M-ZOJ&index=4)
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