Back in the Water - The Appeal of "Jaws 2"

“There is a creature alive today who has survived millions of years of evolution. Without change. Without passion. And without logic. It lives to kill. A mindless, eating machine. It will attack and devour…anything. It is as if God created the Devil and gave him Jaws.” – Trailer narration for Jaws (1975)

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Jaws is my favorite film. It is, to me, the perfect movie: a tightly-wound, exciting thriller with great characters, memorable writing and expert direction which comes together to create a truly brilliant whole. It is one of those movies which as soon as it is over I feel like watching again and, as a result, I found myself watching Jaws once every few months. While some may wish to temper their exposure to their favorite films in an effort to prevent them from feeling stale and tired, I have never encountered this problem when watching Steven Spielberg’s masterwork.

About a month ago, I got to see Jaws screened at a local movie theater – my first time watching the film with a large group – and I can only describe it as an incredibly fun experience. The theater was bursting at the seams; the nearly 600-seat venue almost sold out. Parents were bringing their children for their first viewing; families huddled together with their popcorn as the old Universal logo faded into life on the big screen; the audience cheered – cheered – when Chief Brody uttered the famed “You’re going to need a bigger boat" line and there were audible shrieks when Ben Gardner’s disembodied head pops into view giving Matt Hooper the fright of his life. All of this proved that Jaws has reached a very special peak for movies – it is a truly timeless experience and should be considered just as much of a classic as Gone With the Wind and Casablanca.

Despite these accolades, the Jaws franchise very quickly went off the rails: the final sequel, Jaws: The Revenge has also achieved something of a mythic status but for very different reasons as it is routinely considered to be one of the worst movies of all time. However, the first Jaws sequel, Jaws 2, is a curious example of an interesting sequel. Jaws 2 is nowhere near as good a film as its predecessor and yet it still manages to stand on its own and doesn’t plumb the depths (no pun intended) that Jaws 3D and Jaws: The Revenge managed to reach. While I don’t find myself watching it as often as the first, every once in a while I will find myself overcome with an inexplicable desire to watch Jaws 2; a desire which is simply not satisfied until I have popped the DVD into the drive and had my fill of shlocky shark fun. What makes Jaws 2 somehow work?

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I do not remember the first time that I ever watched Jaws. There are a number of memories I have of watching the film as a kid, but no distinct time. However, I remember watching Jaws 2 for the first time very clearly. My Dad and I rented it from Blockbuster (I’m doing a pretty job of dating myself there) and watching it that night. And, honestly, as a kid I remember being scared. Jaws didn’t manage to freak me out and, to this day, though I am not one to venture far out into the ocean, I cannot say that I find Jaws a truly scary movie. Jaws 2, on the other hand, still manages to elicit a chill or two.

And, if I had to pinpoint what makes Jaws 2 succeed on some level, it would be its ability to scare. Whereas the original Jaws is the textbook definition of a capable thriller, Jaws 2 is a horror film. When I describe Jaws 2 to people I describe it as a slasher movie on the ocean, and I think the description is an apt one. Your run-of-the-mill slasher film is populated by a group of teenagers who are picked off one by one in increasingly devastating ways by a killer who seems to be an indestructible force of nature, and the killer is finally vanquished in the closing minutes by an older authority figure (who usually carries a title of some kind). Jaws 2 has all of these things: the cookie-cutter teens, the shark, and the heroic Chief Brody there to save the day.

I will say, to the film’s credit, that its story is a unique one and does not try to repeat the formula which worked so well in Jaws. (Jaws is, after all, a nearly perfect self-contained story and to repeat it beat-by-beat would be nearly ludicrous.) What is more, director Jeannot Szwarc (like Spielberg before him new to films at the time of his helming a Jaws film) is no Steven Spielberg, but he does manage to stage a number of effective sequences. The shark attack which claims the life of teenager, Eddie, is truly scary and later, the scene in which the shark devours the sympathetic Marge is powerful stuff too. So powerful in fact that many viewers to this day swear that they can recall seeing extended footage of the attack when the film first played on television, and while this hardly rivals the power of the imagination utilized to devastating effect in the original, it is a point worth noting nevertheless.

The rubber shark in all its glory (?)

Despite these merits, Jaws 2 is hardly a slasher film on par with the likes of John Carpenter’s Halloween which was released later the same year. The decision to show the shark more often works greatly to the film's detriment and there is hardly a scene that goes by where the great white doesn’t look fake and rubbery. Roy Scheider, who had great reservations about returning to the series and appeared in the film under some protest, looks visibly bored throughout, and there is a lack of internal logic which runs through the entire movie: while it is may be a visual spectacle, the scene in which the shark devours a helicopter sent to save the kids is so lacking in credibility that it becomes laughable.

But, as I said above, Jaws 2 knows what it is: a horror film and, on that level, it works. It does not – and will never – reach the heights which Jaws reached, but if one is hoping to satisfy the need for some shlock and not a few chills, then it is a movie which fits the bill admirably. And, certainly, Jaws 2 is leagues (water pun intended that time) superior to the films which followed it. Both Jaws 3D and Jaws: The Revenge are terrible movies and can only really be enjoyed if one is ready to watch some world-class bad cinema.

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Horror films thrive on sequels and milking the life from a worthy first installment has never been uncommon. Aside from a few exceptions (most notably The Bride of Frankenstein), few horror sequels surpass or even equal their original movies. Sequels to The Exorcist, The Omen, Halloween, and a plethora of others have failed to live up to the legacy of their origins and some are even embarrassments to the bona-fide classics. Jaws 2, however, manages to be a watchable and competent sequel. Sure, it is no Jaws, but its virtues are not hard to come by. It remains, after nearly 40 years, an affecting and scary movie and while I cannot imagine any audience in the world bursting into applause at it the way they do to Jaws, I think they would be easily glued to their seats; perhaps even white-knuckled as that dorsal fin breaks the ocean’s surface once more.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…the legend continues.