Greetings,
Though I do think that I am well informed on cinematic history, I am not certain where the idea of the "bad sequel" began. These days it is commonplace to assume that a sequel will not only not surpass or be as good as the original, but it could potentially ruin the experience of that original. Sometimes I agree, but every so often this is not the case. After The Godfather 2 dominated so well in 1974, this may have made people believe that sequels could only make things better. Well, they may have jumped the gun on that one, because, a mere three years later, we got Jaws 2.
To be fair, a lot of people will admit now that this one is not that bad, especially when compared to the next two sequels, to which we will get eventually. Personally, I've always been on the fence with this one, but I generally consider it pretty entertaining. Plus, we also have Roy Scheider again and that fact helps immensely. But, back when it was the ONLY sequel to Jaws, it was not thought of that highly. It was, however, the most expensive sequel at that point, and, though it made about half what the original did, it was also the most successful sequel. Not to mention, there was a ton of merchandising tied into it. Since people were still in the grips of the phenomenon, all of that worked to make it a commercial success.
Obviously, it had its problems. First, Steven Spielberg was not directing, and the excitement of the unknown was not there as prominently. It actually had a lot of similar plot points as well, but it did have some good moments. Unfortunately, what it also had was a tough act to follow. Sometimes I think that it is the only reason why people give this movie a hard time. But let's just dive on in and see what we can see. Again, spoiler alert and rich in details.
Jaws 2 takes place four years after the events of the first movie, and it begins with divers finding what is left of Quint's boat, the Orca. They start taking pictures and are surprised by - guess who? Yes, it is Jaws . . . 2. Because it cannot be the first one. He blew up, you remember? Anyway, coincidentally, the diver's camera somehow snaps a picture of the shark's eye. Plot point!
A few days later, we see a woman skiing and another woman driving the boat. First, the skier is taken down very uneventfully, if I recall correctly, which led me to believe that this was not going to be that great. But not to worry. Jaws pays a visit to the boat driver and attacks. She tries to set him on fire with gasoline and a flare to kill him or at least make him go away. Little tip: if you want to do that, don't spill gas on yourself, too. In short, another explosion from the Jaws franchise. No one, other than the victims, sees the shark, but the incident is witnessed from afar by an old lady and two teenagers, Tina and Eddie (remember them!).
After these incidents and the finding of a washed up killer whale corpse, Chief Brody believes that they may have another shark on their hands. Not everyone agrees with him, particularly Mayor Vaughn. Oh, great! We have to deal with this imbecile again! Yeah, I can see why he wouldn't trust Brody about the shark, since he was soooo wrong the first time. Later, Brody finds the remains of the exploded speed boat, and also the charred body of the driver, giving us another jump scare that was no doubt intended to recreate the infamous one from the first movie. Not bad, but not as good.
Well, despite the objections, the chief keeps his eye on the ocean by way of an observation tower. He thinks he sees a shark and tries to get the people out of the water by yelling and, you know, shooting a gun in the air. Yeah, that second thing may have been a bit much. Turns out, it was just a big school of blue fish, because some guy on the beach said so. I really don't know how he could tell from where he was standing, but we needed the conflict.
After this little mishap, Brody gets a picture from the camera of one of the divers from the beginning, and the picture is, as you may recall, that of a shark's eye. A very blurry, grainy shark's eye. He takes this evidence to the mayor and the townsmen, who thank him for the info by firing him. I guess they thought that, since he had seen a shark up close and personal, he would have no idea what the eye would look like and, therefore, what was in the picture couldn't possibly be a shark. Still, I think it had something to do with that whole pulling a gun on a crowded beach thing. Ironically, the mayor is the only one who votes against him being fired. What! I guess he can't push the chief around if he's not working for him.
Besides all of this, we also have the plot concerning Brody's older son, Mike. The 17-year old wants to go sailing with his friends, but his dad says no and finds him a job, which makes Mike angry. Hey, kid, maybe he's trying to protect you from sharks! Well, surprise, he sneaks out and goes sailing anyway, dragging along his kid brother,Sean, to keep him from tattling. You know, I think a five dollar bill would have handled that more easily. So the kids set off and pass a group of divers on the way. Later, the dive leader surfaces too quickly, suffers an embolism and is taken to the hospital. Brody suspects something must have scared him into coming up so fast. I wonder what.
Later, the deputy named Hendricks tells him that Mike and his friends had gone out sailing, so he takes Brody and his wife, Ellen, to go out searching. All they find, though, is Tina, alone in a boat and traumatized because she and her boyfriend Eddie were attacked by the shark, and he did not make it. Ellen and Hendricks take her ashore, while Brody continues the search.
Not surprisingly, the sailboats of Mike and his friends are attacked by Jaws. And so the tangled web has been woven. In the commotion, Mike is knocked unconscious. He is taken by two friends back to shore while everyone else waits on the collided boats. They think they're saved when a helicopter comes to tow them in, but, never backing down from a challenge, Jaws attacks the chopper instead of going for the easy target of the boats. We lose one of the sailing girls when she attempts to save little Sean. Hey, why is it again that they didn't take the tiny child when they left with his brother? I guess I'll let it slide by assuming they weren't thinking straight.
Brody finds Mike, who tells him what is going on, and he then goes on to find the rest of the kids. They managed to find a bit of a safe haven on a tiny island used as an electrical station, Well, everyone except for Sean and one of the girls, who are marooned on a boat. Relax, though. Chief Brody comes to the rescue, and, finding a new way to do so, he electrocutes the shark. We knew he could do it!
And that was Jaws 2. Not as good as the first, but not as bad as people try to say. My only major complaint is that they brought back that ridiculous mayor and didn't have him eaten by the shark, which would have become a classic "I told you so" moment! Anyway, I would certainly recommend this for fans of Jaws, since we do get a good performance from Roy Scheider and the story is actually pretty decent. May as well cling onto those things, because, in our later sequels, we kind of get neither. Bring your 3-D glasses for the next review. You're gonna need 'em!
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
