Jaws 2

Jaws 2 (1978)

Runtime: 116 minutes

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Starring: Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, a bunch of teenagers whom served as cannon fodder or potential cannon fodder

From: Universal

This was not the main reason I am trying out HBO Max for the next few weeks; however, as it has all the flicks in the series and it was about time they were discussed after I reviewed the classic original many years ago... while this does not rise above being fine, at least it isn't hilariously bad like the subsequent efforts in the franchise.

Police Chief Brody has to deal with another Great White Shark causing havoc to his seaside town of Amity, in the northeastern part of the United States. Once again, the mayor is a fool who has monetary interests in mind that are paramount over everything else. The past few months, that mayor has become tied into the pandemic. As those cases have spiked in recent days, perhaps everyone should have paid more heed to the lesson in the first Jaws... opening up everything too soon because the threat is seen as minimized and money can't be lost due to a shutdown... that seems on point now.

Anyhow, Brody does seem incredibly obsessed and suffering from PTSD over the events of the original picture so that did not help his cause. The movie is different from what Spielberg did; that barely had the shark show up due to problems with the model so instead the focus was on great and colorful characters interacting with each other, with there being a threat of when it will show up. Here, it appears far more often and as I've seen it be described, it's like a slasher movie villains. There's even a gaggle of teenagers (including Brody's rebellious son) that are cannon fodder or possible cannon fodder. The characters are all decent overall-if usually not rising above stereotype-and none of the youths are irritating, but it is Scheider who is the highlight. That is a credit to him, as he only agreed to do the film for Universal because he dropped out of doing The Deer Hunter. Other assets include John Williams contributing a quality score, the shark (usually) looking decent, and some successful suspense sequences. But thank goodness Old Roy was able to return.

The rest of the series won't be viewed immediately; it's nice to have variety... plus, as much unintentional comedy as they will provide, pain will also be part of the equation!