The original "Jaws" was a summer blockbuster that time has proved to be an unexpected classic. (I mean, they teach that movie in film schools now.) When "Jaws 2" was conceived, the studio didn't think in terms of doing justice to a classic; they looked at the amount of money that "Jaws" was piling up very quickly and hoped to make lightning strike twice. So "Jaws 2" was, in the words of Steven Spielberg, "an exercise in corporate business." It jettisons the interaction among the mismatched trio of shark hunters from the first film in favor of putting a group of mostly whiny (and in one case, relentlessly shrieking) teens in jeopardy. It asks us to believe that ANOTHER jumbo-sized great white shark would happen upon the same little East Coast island resort. It is erratically paced and often poorly written (by a couple of the same team of writers who shaped the original "Jaws" script). It is marred by some special effects shots that should have either been re-shot or scrapped (at one point, the shark's lower jaw is CROOKED as it lunges out of the water).
Even so, this "Jaws" fan has a soft spot for "Jaws 2," because it's the only one of the three sequels that has enough elements of the original to make it watchable. (In fact, "Jaws 3D" and "Jaws The Revenge" are beneath contempt.) Reprising his "Jaws" role, Roy Scheider is as good as could be expected given the lack of a consistent script or any opportunity to work with costars on the level of Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. John Williams turns in one of his most underrated scores, building on the sound and style of the original without lamely repeating himself. Director Jeannot Szwarc does manage to create some pretty scary and suspenseful sequences, unlike either of the directors who followed him in this series. And even if the whole thing is nothing but reheated leftover fish cakes, it still tastes pretty good.
Even so, this "Jaws" fan has a soft spot for "Jaws 2," because it's the only one of the three sequels that has enough elements of the original to make it watchable. (In fact, "Jaws 3D" and "Jaws The Revenge" are beneath contempt.) Reprising his "Jaws" role, Roy Scheider is as good as could be expected given the lack of a consistent script or any opportunity to work with costars on the level of Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. John Williams turns in one of his most underrated scores, building on the sound and style of the original without lamely repeating himself. Director Jeannot Szwarc does manage to create some pretty scary and suspenseful sequences, unlike either of the directors who followed him in this series. And even if the whole thing is nothing but reheated leftover fish cakes, it still tastes pretty good.