Jaws was one of those rare movies where, despite all the problems during production, everything fell into place and a classic was born. In fact, Universal regarded it so highly that even before the film became the biggest movie of all time at that time, they demanded a sequel. Three years later, Jaws 2 was released in the summer of 1978. This was the first of three sequels to Steven Spielberg's blockbuster that many fans and critics consider vastly inferior to the original. While the third and fourth films in the series are definitely not up to snuff, I've always had a soft spot for Jaws 2, having actually seen a good majority of it before I saw the original. While there was no way for this film to live up to the legacy of the original and it does indeed have its shortcomings, I still think it's a worthy sequel and a nice companion piece to Spielberg's classic.
It's been four years since the events of Jaws and life on Amity has gone on. Martin Brody is still the chief of police and still lives on the island with his wife Ellen and his sons Mike and Sean, who are now sixteen and eleven-ish respectively. However, a rash of mysterious incidents such as the disappearance of two divers, a mysterious water-skiing accident, and the mangled carcass of a killer whale lead Brody to believe that another large great white shark is stalking the waters around the island but, as before, Mayor Vaughn and the local government officials refuse to believe him. Brody's paranoia about sharks after the events of the first film lead him to do something rash enough to get him fired from his job. As if that wasn't bad enough, his two sons head out on a sailing trip with their friends and become targets for the shark.
Steven Spielberg wanted no part of a sequel to Jaws because he felt he'd already made the definitive shark movie and that doing sequels was a "cheap carny trick." However, seeing as how Spielberg would go on to direct all the Indiana Jones movies as well as one of the sequels to Jurassic Park, I personally think he didn't want to do it because he didn't intend to go through the torture he went through on the first film again. John Hancock was originally hired as director but due to his inexperience in making big budget movies like this and Universal's disliking of the dark tone he was going to bring to it, he was eventually fired. The guy who eventually took over was a French director named Jeannot Szwarc, who honestly didn't have many credentials at that time but got the job because he was friends with production designer Joe Alves. In an interview with Szwarc on the DVD, he said he felt the script focused too much on the action and some of the characters were not well developed and asked writer Carl Gottlieb to fix that (which I don't think he did but we'll get to that presently). Szwarc may not have been as talented as Spielberg when it came to characters but the action scenes in this movie are very well filmed in my opinion. I also feel that he did a good job in keeping the movie in tone with the original: while it's a serious horror/thriller, it also has a feel of fun and adventure to it rather than being all dark and dreary, as Hancock probably would have made it.
The main aspect of the film that keeps it in line with the original is that many of the actors return in their roles. Chief among them is Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody. Scheider did not want to do the movie, feeling that there was nothing new to do with it, but Universal used a contractual obligation he'd failed to live up to, as well as a big paycheck, to get him to do it. Scheider then reluctantly returned and decided to do the best he could. Despite his misgivings and constant fights on the set with Szwarc, I think Scheider turned in another good performance. Brody is exactly as he was in the first film and more: he's still a likable, charming chief of police, tough when he needs to be but fair. There's also an added layer to his character in this film that wasn't there in the original. After what he went through in the first film, you can see the concern and terror in his eyes when evidence that there's another shark prowling the waters around Amity begins to mount. He kind of becomes as paranoid and as obsessed with killing the shark as Quint was in the original. It comes to a head when he mistakes the shadow that a school of fish create for a shark and, without thinking, orders everyone out of the water and even shoots at the shadow. This leads to him being fired from his job and he feels like an idiot for what he did. But the next day, when a commotion comes up in the town, his need to check it out despite the fact that he's been fired leads him to discover that his sons are in danger and, being the dutiful and courageous guy he is, he takes it upon himself to save them and once again destroy the marauding shark.
Lorraine Gary returns as Brody's wife Ellen. While she doesn't have much to do, as in the original, she remains ever loyal to her husband, going as far as to defend what he did at the beach. In this film, Brody has a kind of rival when it comes to his wife in the form of Len Peterson (Joseph Mascolo), a businessman who's built a new resort on Amity and happens to be Ellen's boss. While it never becomes a big thing, Peterson seems to have a thing for Ellen and may resent that Brody is married to her. Again, this is never explicitly stated, (although there are some deleted scenes that would have made it a bit more upfront) but it is a kind of undercurrent to the way Peterson resents Brody's shark paranoia, going as far as to keep Ellen away from him after the panic on the beach he starts. This, coupled with the mere fact that his actions could ruin Amity's tourist trade, could have definitely encouraged Peterson to get Brody fired. Speaking of this, one thing I like about Ellen in this film is her last scene, after it's confirmed that there is another shark lurking near Amity. Peterson tries to make Ellen understand his position but she berates him for firing her husband, stating, "I don't give a damn what about your position. All I know is that a boy is dead and my son and husband are still out there!" I just loved seeing Ellen stick it to that bastard!
Murray Hamilton reprises his role as selfish Mayor Vaughn, who, to me, comes across not only as an even bigger jerk but as a complete idiot in this film. The fact that this guy once again refuses to believe Brody when he says that there's a large shark in the waters around the island makes him look like the most selfish idiot to enter politics (and that's saying something). He even says to Brody, "Don't press it this time." You mean like he pressed it last time... and was right? And what about all those people before that were killed... because of you? You're going to let that happen again? It's such a shame that the people of Amity apparently never find out what an asshole their mayor is because of they did, not only would he be fired but he'd probably be deported! (Again, there was a deleted scene that showed Vaughn in a better light. After the scene where Brody shows the town council the picture of the shark and they decide to have a private meeting about what to do about him, there was going to be a scene where the council votes about where they should fire Brody or not. Everyone except Vaughn votes for firing Brody, making it look like Vaughn really does believe Brody and is being pressured by the council and Peterson to go along with them. If it had been kept in, I do think this scene would have helped make Vaughn a little more sympathetic instead of a selfish jerk who learned nothing from the events of the original film.)
Jeffrey Kramer also reprises his role as Deputy Hendricks, who has a bigger role here than before. He remains ever faithful and loyal to the chief, even when he could easily think that he's lost his mind. I like the scene where Brody comes home after he's been fired and he tries to promote Hendricks as the new chief. Hendricks, ever the loyal deputy, tells Brody that he doesn't want his job and says he's the greatest. Really makes Hendricks a likable character. I also like how he at first tries to stop Brody and Ellen from taking the police boat out on the water but eventually decides to help them, stating, "What the hell, they can't fire both of us. Someone's gotta be in charge." In his last scene, I like the less than positive look he gives Peterson after Ellen scolds him for firing Brody. He's the kind of deputy you'd want to have if you were in charge.
Where the film falls flat for me characterwise is the teenagers who become prey for the shark in the film's last half. Remember when I said that Szwarc asked Carl Gottlieb to help flesh out the teenagers? Well, they failed big time because when it comes to most of these kids, I don't remember who's who. It's never a good sign when I remember the majority of the names of the kids from slasher movies but I remember hardly any from the sequel to one of the best films of all time. The main one is Mike Brody (Mark Gruner), the oldest son of Martin and Ellen. There's some character there, like the arguments that he and his father have about him getting a job for the summer and his father ordering him to stay out of the water. Still, it doesn't really amount to much in the long run. Also, how in the world can he be sixteen when he seemed to be only like nine or ten in the original, which takes place four years before? The younger brother, Sean (Marc Gilpin), has even less to his character, mainly just being the little brother who wants to tag along and is a pest to Mike. There is one nice moment with him where he helps his father pick up the gun-shells after he causes the panic on the beach and Brody is clearly touched by it. Other than that, one good thing I can say about him is that I didn't find annoying, although the part where he blackmails Mike into taking him with him on his sailing trip is a bit douchey.
Now, I will try to name the other teenagers but I know I won't get all of them. I definitely know and liked Tina Wilcox (Ann Dusenberry), who seemed like a fun, spunky girl and I felt bad for her when she sees her boyfriend get eaten by the shark and is hysterically frightened when Brody, Ellen, and Hendricks find her. Not much to say about her boyfriend Eddie (Gary Dubin) other than he and Tina seem to have a nice relationship and his death scene is memorable. Amongst the other teens who end up stranded by the shark, the one I remember the most is Andy (Gary Springer), Mike's big, curly-haired friend. I can't help but like him since he seems like the type of person you'd want to hang out with it. The only scene with him I don't like is when they're trying to save Sean after a girl named Marge (Martha Swatek) has been eaten right in front of him but Sean is too scared to tie the line around the boat he's stuck on. Andy gets tough on him to get his attention and threatens him. Okay, I know they're trying to help him but the poor kid is scared to death and you're threatening him? Andy does make it clear when they finally get him across that he really does care about him but I just found it to be a little extreme. I definitely remember Donna Wilkes as Jackie, a cousin of a friend of Mike's named Brooke (Gigi Vorgan) (I think), mainly because once they're stranded by the shark, she becomes very hysterical and screams a lot. That leads me to Larry (David Elliott), Vaughn's son, who comes across a major dick, blowing up at other teenagers once they're stuck, especially Jackie when she becomes hysterical. Like father, like son, huh? I definitely know Keith Gordon as Doug, but that's only because I remember him from Christine. He has one funny moment where he over-inflates a part of his boat and it pops right after he's been acting all melodramatic, making him look like a dork. G. Thomas Dunlop is memorable as Timmy mainly because he's so mopey and sure he's not going to get a girl, although he does end up with one. And I remember Cynthia Glover as Lucy because at one point when things look their bleakest, she says a prayer. I know there were some other teenagers but I can't for the life of me remember their names. I'm surprised I remembered as many of them as I did (I had to look at a credits list for half of them anyway).
One complaint that's always thrown towards Jeannot Szwarc's direction of the film was his decision to show the shark clearly from the first attack to the end, instead of going the Hitchcock route and not showing it for most of the film like Spielberg did. His reason for doing so was because he felt the legendary chumming scene from the original could never be duplicated so they might as well just show the shark. Me, personally, I've always felt that when you're making a sequel like this, you should know what the fans want to see and what they wanted to see, in this case, was the shark. The route that Spielberg took in keeping it hidden for the most part was cool but by the time you get to a sequel, the audience knows what's going to happen and they know what they're paying money for: to see the monster do its thing. So I think you should just give them what they want and I agree with Szwarc's decision. Now that said, I do think he could have filmed the shark a lot more skillfully. When Spielberg finally showed the shark in the original, he almost never held on it so long that you could tell it was fake. Granted, there are a couple of times in the original where the shark does look a little iffy but for the most part, I think it still holds up. However, in Jaws 2, there are plenty of shots where the shark is clearly fake. One is where the shark first kills a water-skier and then attacks the woman who was driving the boat. You can clearly tell that the shark is made of rubber because they hold on it for too long. The shot where it looks the most artificial is a scene where Mike is floating in the water unconscious and his friends just barely manage to pull him onto the raft before the shark swallows him whole. As the shark passes by the boat with its big mouth open, you can see the mechanisms down its throat. It's brief but it's noticeable.
I did like that they gave this shark a distinct look with him getting burned very early on, disappearing for most of the film and then when he reappears, he's got a big ugly scar on the left side of his head. However, I don't feel that they ever got it to look real. I know that they were basically painting a scar on the side of a big mechanical shark but honestly, that's what it looks like. It doesn't look natural and it just looks painted on. Having said that, I honestly can't think of a way they could have fixed it because that's tricky: making something look real on something that's already artificial. While it was cool, it just never looked all that real to me. And plus, like they did in the original, they use real shark footage intermixed with the mechanical one and every once in a while, it doesn't match because there's no burn. Speaking of which, there's a moment where the shark almost gets a guy who's para-sailing and when it cuts back to an above water shot, the shark's fin or tail is briefly seen and he just looks small. I've always felt he looked small at that moment. My final thought about the shark is that I love the way he's destroyed at the end. Some people may think it's a little farfetched but the spectacle of the shark biting that cable, getting the crap shocked out of him, getting set on fire and sinking down into the water is a sight I saw as a kid and thought was amazing then and I still do now. Like the climactic destruction of the shark in the first film, I like the buildup to it where the shark is racing towards Brody and I like the line he says: "Open wide!" Nothing can top, "Smile, you son of a bitch!" but I liked that as well. And I you still think that the death of the shark here was farfetched, watch the death of the shark at the end of Jaws: The Revenge for comparison (I'll get to that later!)
The death of the shark brings up a gripe about the film that I agree with: Jaws 2 is way too derivative of scenes from the original. While I like the similar buildup to the death of the shark here, I agree with those who say that this film copies too many scenes from the original. Since it's a sequel, it's nice that they kept the same general spirit and tone of the original but doesn't mean they had to out and out plagiarize stuff from it. Some of it includes more scenes with Brody having to deal with the inane troubles of the townspeople (first it was karate students chopping picket fences; here it's noisy police scanners and teasing women), a dead body convinces Brody that there's a shark in the waters (it's a dead whale this time instead of the remains of a victim but still), and then there's the reused plot device of the mayor refusing to believe Brody, which, again, makes Vaughn look even more selfish and stupid than he was before. There are also some scenes that are just blatant rip-offs of some of the original rather than just being similar. One is a beach montage that looks awfully similar to those in the original to me. Even though I like this movie, the first time I actually saw it I was thinking, "Really?" But the one that really gets me is the ripoff of the infamous head scene with Richard Dreyfuss from the original, this time involving Brody investigating a big piece of driftwood and being startled when the remains of a shark victim come right up in his face. That was so blatant and it didn't work at all, unlike the scene in the original. That one really does disgust me whenever I watch the movie. Bottom line, while it doesn't completely ruin the movie for me, it is kind of disappointing that recycled so much from the original when writing the script for this one.
I don't think Jaws 2 has the level of suspense that the original had. That's a given, naturally, but when you watch the two films back to back, it's clear that Szwarc doesn't have the talent in creating and maintaining suspense that Spielberg has. Even though Szwarc decided to show the shark completely, I think you can still show the monster and make the suspense work. I think this movie's biggest problem is that they use theme too much which instantly gives away the shark's presence. While the original is famous for that music, if you watch it again, you'll notice that the music always did a slow build whenever the shark was stalking someone from nearby and never hit you full force with the "da-dum, da-dum" until the shark either appeared or full on attacked someone. Here, you hear that theme full on whenever it's even hinted that the shark is nearby so no tension builds. There are also some moments where it's quiet music wise and then suddenly the shark pops up but I don't know if it's just because I've seen so many horror films or what but I don't think they work here. They only one that got me was when the shark comes out of the water to attack the helicopter and even that didn't get me as much as a scene in the original where Hooper and Quint are pulling in a rope and the shark suddenly pops up.
With what I've said about the music, you probably think I hate it but I don't. I think they could have used the iconic theme better but most of the music that John Williams wrote for this film is really good. The opening music is absolutely beautiful, especially when it swells as the title comes up in front of a school of fish. I also really like the music that plays during the moments where Brody is looking out at the ocean when he suspects that there's another shark out there. I also like the music that plays when Brody has caused the panic on the beach and Sean is helping him pick up the bullet shells. The music that plays over the ending credits is a nice one and a good compliment to the similar music in the original. All in all, it may not be as memorable as the score from the original (how could it?) but I do like this film's music score.
Jaws 2 is definitely not a perfect film. A good majority of the characters are forgettable, the shark is not as skillfully filmed as before, and there are too many scenes that copy from the original. Still, it's a fun two hours. The returning cast members are still on form, the film feels very in line with the original, and the new music score by Williams is very well done. Even Roy Scheider said once that, despite how much he didn't want to do it and the arguments he had with Szwarc, he thought it was a pretty good sequel and that's how I feel. Was it necessary for it to have been made? No, but since money talks and a sequel was going to be made no matter what, it's lucky that we got one that doesn't tarnish the reputation of the classic original. Unfortunately, that luck wouldn't hold out for long.
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