Jaws 2
The original 1975 Jaws remains arguably the best and most pure piece of cinema ever achieved in the storied career of one Steven Spielberg, so much so that the overwhelming box office numbers simply DEMANDED that a sequel be made. Spielberg of course would laugh off the offer, partly because he deemed it unnecessary and also because he had gone through such a miserable experience in making the original (especially filming on the water) that there was no way he was going to subject himself to that again. After a mad scramble to find somebody else, the producers finally settled on one Jeannot Szwarc, a French television journeyman with nowhere near the name prestige or pedigree of Spielberg even to this day. Casting was another matter: Richard Dreyfuss had just won an Oscar and readily turned down reprising his role as marine biologist Matt Hooper, leading to an explanation within the film itself that the character was on an expedition to Antarctica and thus unreachable when an attempt is made to contact him for help. Murray Hamilton signed on to return as the now considerably less bombastic Mayor of Amity Island in what amounted to an extended cameo as his scenes had to be rushed through filming due to his wife having just been diagnosed with cancer. Lorraine Gary on the other hand was more than happy to return as Mrs. Brody which brings us to Roy Scheider as Police Chief Martin Brody: Scheider had wanted nothing to do with this sequel when he had heard it was being made, but then he had gotten into some contractual hot water with Universal Pictures over his involvement with some other films he was intended to appear in (The Deer Hunter in particular) so as a compromise he finally agreed to sign on to return as Brody, now overseeing a happy and relatively recovered island community after the traumatic events of the first film. But Scheider himself would become the focal point of the sequelâs production problems, clashing early and often with director Szwarc before even engaging in an actual physical altercation with him. The primary difference between this one and Spielbergâs untouchable masterpiece is that this one takes on more of an obvious âdrive in B movieâ vibe than its predecessor, in particular the way that it zooms its focus in on a particularly obnoxious group of local teenagers (including Brody and The Mayorâs sons along with a young Keith Gordon), giving them so much development that it almost feels like watching the early scenes of a teen slasher movie, but more importantly it takes away from Scheiderâs screentime as well (at least the delicately beautiful Donna Wilkes is in the mix here so that can be forgiven). After the teenagers have been developed enough to be set up as fish food for the finale, we have gotten about 30 minutes into the movie before Scheider is finally allowed to take the helm and rightfully carry the movie from here on out. The first sign of trouble is when some divers discover the wreckage of The Orca (Quintâs boat from the original) only to be suddenly ambushed and eaten while leaving behind a camera that may have gotten an incriminating shot of their attacker. After these victims are written off as being âdisappearancesâ, another incident sees a mother and her water skiing daughter attacked and swallowed, only here the mother (in a panic) before her demise manages to blow up the boat and burn herself to death, in the process also causing the shark to wind up being disfigured from the explosion for the rest of the film in a somewhat classic horror movie spin. Brodyâs growing paranoia after this âboating accidentâ only increases when a large killer whale washes ashore half eaten and the arrogant marine biologist at the scene dismisses Brodyâs claims of a shark attack as being pure hogwash. The obvious question lingering here is âis there a connection between this shark and the one from the previous movie?â. While Brody seems to believe that some form of homing beacon was sent out by the shark in Part One (similar to dolphins) prior to its death, another theory was that THIS shark is actually the mate of the original, which in turn makes this new sharkâs arrival and rampage a premeditated revenge, specifically on Brody and the town itself in general. It certainly is a vicious bastard, taking great delight in using its size to capsize boats and knock the occupants into the water which makes for better access for feeding. Even more significant is the implication that the shark is targeting Brody himself (and his children), somehow instinctively knowing that Brody had destroyed its mate in Part One. Even after Brody is blasphemously fired as Chief Of Police and Brody himself has pretty much accepted his own paranoia as having been just that, the shark manages to set a trap for him using his own sons as bait (along with the rest of the idiot teens) to draw him out into the water alone (even kicking his moronic yet loyal deputy out of the way when he could at least have gone with Brody and served as decoy chum) for the final confrontation, one which lacks the terrifying immediacy of the first filmâs final battle, but at least here a lot more lives are at stake and Brody must face this challenge without either of his comrades Hooper or the now deceased Quint. A very notable aspect here is the increase in straight up blood and gore from the previous entry (most apparent in the dead beached whale scene but also on display during most of the shark attacks) with some bits being so disturbing that itâs pretty damn surprising that it passed on through MPAA inspection with merely a PG rating. The one truly evocative moment that nearly redeems the whole enterprise is when towards the end (with all of them trapped out in the middle of the water and at the sharkâs mercy), one of the female teens begins leading the others in a group prayer to be saved and delivered from the evil that has befallen them when little do they know that their genuine Savior (Brody) is on his way and only too happy to finally finish the job he had started in Part One, not to mention enjoying the sweet vindication coming his way considering that his rampant paranoia had already made him discharge his firearm at a school of bluefish in the water in full view of a gaggle of tourists, making him look the fool and playing a major role in his firing (although itâs implied that Hamiltonâs Mayor was his sole ally who had defended him). Often looked upon as being amongst the BEST sequels ever made, itâs not really quite that even as it ups the ante in some respects and fully exploits the entire âfear of going in the waterâ angle to its absolute zenith. More importantly, it succeeded in bringing back a reluctant Roy Scheider as the franchiseâs widely popular conquering hero and thatâs no small feat since Brody is considered in many circles to be one of the greatest (and most underrated) movie heroes of all time, perfectly embodied by Scheider as an Everyman backed into a corner and forced to face his own fears and the most demonic of evils head onâŠ
7/10