Jaws 2 (1978)

 Just when you thought you were safe to go back into the water.

Yeah, that's a great tagline.

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I personally think this sequel is just a solid summer film that is fun for a weekday evening or maybe a Saturday afternoon. No more or less. I don't consider it an all-out classic as I did when I was a kid, but I still think it has good suspense, Roy Scheider (despite not wanting to star in this sequel, contractually obligated, it seems, to do so) delivers another strong performance without the aid of such talents as Dreyfuss and Shaw this time around, and the shark gets plenty of chances to rise from the water to traumatize folks on flimsy boats it can easily destroy. Scheider's Chief Brody gets to come to rescue, both of the Brodys' children are in peril because they go out with teenagers on a sail to a smaller island miles away from Amity (where a dead whale was found with a fucking huge bite and a nasty wound on its face), Chief Brody accidentally mistakes a blue pool of fish for the Great White while firing at it as beach patrons scurry and get out of the water, and Chief Brody is fired by the city council. So the film has a lot of activity in it. But ultimately this builds to Chief Brody going after the endangered youth whose boats are just wrecked by the time Jaws pummels them. This sequel has a big sequence involving the Great White pulling down a chopper, gobbling up a young adult guardian right in front of Chief Brody's younger son, an underwater photographer attacked in the opening while a scuba diver luckily just suffers going up to the surface too fast after seeing a shark, and the Great White chomping right down on an electrical wire when Chief Brody goads it into believing he was on the menu. Once again, of course, Murray Hamilton's Mayor isn't persuaded by Brody's warnings (though the locals near Amity beach are spared in this sequel) when a skier and her boater wind up dead (the woman in the boat shockingly pouring herself with gas and firing off a flare gun, while the young woman on the skis is eaten), the whale on the other island has a big bite in it, and a photograph from the camera lost by the underwater photographer seems to indicate the face of the shark. Joseph Mascolo (my mom brought this guy into my life when she watched the soap opera, Days of Our Lives) is a major deal in Amity, positioned to bring prestige, outside financial backers, and companies to increase value for the town...he also hired Ellen (Lorraine Gary, returning to the franchise) on his staff. Part of the city council, Mascolo and Hamilton, along with a few others, clash with Scheider and later oust him as Chief. So the film has its share of drama on the shore before Scheider, his deputy, and wife head out to pursue the teens, knowing that the Great White could be out there somewhere.

I am glad, even if he wasn't, that Scheider was in this film. I never see Scheider go through the motions or phone it in despite the production drama he had with the director, Szwarc. The film is competently presented, and I was fully invested in the film after a considerable period of time...I guess I haven't watched this since maybe the late 90s. Szwarc certainly made sure the teens on their damaged boats go through a lot of terror, always letting us know that the Great White could attack at any time. And those little sailboats sure are vulnerable, especially under duress out in the open water. The Cable Junction rocky island becomes an eventual godsend, sure to assist Chief Brody and the remaining teens in their time of need.

The slasher comparisons, with the Great White essentially Michael Myers intrigued me. The shark does pursue teenagers, but almost all victims are adults. And Scheider could be considered Dr. Loomis in his own story, never seemingly able to truly defeat this menace no matter how many times it would seem he killed it. Still, a shark is a shark and Michael is Michael. With Roger Ebert just rejecting horror pretty much outright at this time, it is no surprise he hated this sequel. It comes with the territory. 3.5/5