Jaws 2
(1978)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
Director: Jeannot Szwarc, rated PG
  Starring:
Roy Scheider, Larraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo,
Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner,
Susan French, Barry Cole, Donna Wilkes
DML Rating:
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
- above average
"I'm telling you, and
I'm telling everybody at this table that that's a shark! And I
know what a shark looks like, because I've seen one up close.
And you'd better do something about this one, because I don't
intend to go through that hell again!" –
Police Chief Martin Brody
Why watch this?
It's a lot better than Jaws 3 and Jaws 4.
Plot Summary: Four
years after the initial terror on Amity Island, Police Chief
Martin Brody suspects that a new great white shark is lurking in
the local waters following a series of mysterious disappearances
and unusual incidents. Despite his warnings, skeptical town
officials dismiss his fears out of concern for the island's
tourist economy and subsequently relieve him of his duties. The
situation escalates dramatically when Brody's own sons and a
group of local teenagers sail out into the open ocean, unaware
that they are heading directly into the path of the dangerous
predator.
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Dad's Preview: With the
massive success of Jaws
(1975), a sequel was inevitable. Robert Shaw's
character was killed, Steven Spielberg refused, and thus
Richard Dreyfuss said no. Roy Scheider reluctantly
signed on, as did many of the original supporting cast.
This is Chief Brody's film and a new giant shark is
stalking swimmers off the shores of Amity. The plot is
utterly ridiculous, but sequels are about profit, not
script. The filmmakers did try to deliver a
serious film, and it has a few good moments (and a cool
movie poster). Yet, here is the flick's formula: the
shark kills, the authorities don't believe the police
chief, and the shark keeps eating people. Missing is
Spielberg's character-development and suspense-building.
Anyway, it all heads to a mano y pescado showdown
with predicable results. I thought that surely this
would end the Jaws film series, but nope, there
would be two more. This effort is the best of the
sequels, but unfortunately, that's not saying much. I
felt bad for Roy Scheider, but recently learned that he
more than quadrupled his original salary. |
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Zanuck/Brown Co;
Universal Pictures
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