Another shark problem: Why JAWS 2 is NOT an inferior motion picture experience

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” That’s undoubtedly one of the most recognizable taglines in cinema history, but a lot of people don’t realize it actually belongs not to the great 1975 monster movie/sea adventure “Jaws” but to its less appreciated 1978 sequel. So why is “Jaws 2” considered by many such an inferior motion picture experience?

Age plays a big part in how we see the world, and what we see first often forms our opinion of what’s to come. If you can believe it, there are some people who prefer “Grease 2” over “Grease” because they saw it first growing up. Ugh, what a sequel!

In 1975 I was just a tender tike of two and unfortunately didn’t get to experience the original film on the big screen at that time. I don’t think I would have understood it at such a young age. Too many slow and chatty scenes for such a little ball of energy like me. I would have yawned at the town meeting scene that introduces Quint or the scene where Mrs. Kintner slaps Chief Brody across the face. Who is this old lady anyway and why does she look more like a little boy’s grandmother than his mother? Or the now-famous U.S.S Indianapolis monologue? “Yack, yack, yack. Talk, talk, talk. Where’s the shark promised in the poster?” I would have whined like the annoying, impatient little lad I was.

But just three years later, my tiny brain had developed enough where I could sit still, listen, and process information long enough to watch a nearly two-hour movie. So bring on “Jaws 2.” If memory serves, I didn’t see it in the theater but we rented it on VHS. For you youngsters reading, there was a time movies were rented on videotape and not streamed at home with the mere click of a remote. But to a half-century-old geezer like me, ah, those were the days. And watching “Jaws 2” on our massive 27-inch tube television in the basement frightened me so much, I was kept awake at night thinking there might be a Great White hiding under the covers. Heck, I still check the covers before I get in them because of this movie.

Despite being terrified out of my wits and not having seen the first film, I made up my five-year-old mind that “Jaws 2” was a masterwork of celluloid. Loved the water skier explosion, a promiscuous teenager named Eddie being pushed by the shark to the edge of his girlfriend’s boat only to be pulled under and eaten after holding on to the last seconds of his life. And of course, the final showdown where Brody feeds the beast an electrifying piece of beef jerky. “Open wide! Open wide! Say ahh!” What an ending! And I learned not to play with power lines or even wall sockets because of “Jaws 2.” Probably saved my life. How many movies can parents say their kids learned something from?

But most of all, I enjoyed Roy Scheider’s commanding performance as Brody. He wasn’t a superhero, just a small-town sheriff trying to protect the people of his community from a menacing villain. Almost like one of those classic Westerns like “High Noon” or “Shane” where only one person has the guts to go up against an evil force while everyone else either looks the other way or refuses to believe it exists. As you may know, Scheider didn’t want to make the sequel but agreed to do it to fulfill his contractual obligation with Universal Pictures. He was quite unhappy doing it and feuded often with the director. However, his ire on set might have actually helped make his performance on screen more intense, which was great.

Also, I didn’t feel the need to watch the original to enjoy “Jaws 2,” as if I was missing something or wouldn’t understand what was going on. In fact, it was probably better that I hadn’t seen “Jaws” first back then. If I had, I might not have bothered watching its sequel.

So, with all these things to enjoy about “Jaws 2,” why all the naysayers? Well, to be fair, they’re not exactly wrong in their thinking. The first film boasts the bigger-than-life Robert Shaw, whom I think I would have been more scared to sail with on a boat than if a Great White had been at the helm. The chemistry between the three men on the Orca is another major reason the original movie is so highly regarded. They’re three people of very different worlds and voices, all trying to kill the shark for different reasons.

And who can forget all the wonderful dialogue? My personal favorite, “I can do anything. I’m the chief of police.”

For these reasons, people say that “Jaws” has more well-drawn characters than the sequel. But beyond the three male leads, we hardly get to know anyone else, especially the victims. Who is Chrissie Watkins, Alex Kintner, or the estuary man whom the shark attacks on the 4th of July? The movie never tells us, so why should we care about them? Also, Brody seems like he’s only hunting the shark at sea out of obligation. He’s the police chief, so he’s expected to be there, but Quint’s and Hooper’s characters often overshadow him up until the end. And because the first half of the movie and the second play like two different genres, there’s a feeling of unevenness to it as whole. I still ask myself, what happens after Brody and Hooper return to Amity after killing the shark? Do the townspeople return to swimming or is summer sadly over, like Brody tells Mayor Vaughn in the hospital?

Now, in “Jaws 2,” Brody is center stage and it feels like he has more to do in the sequel, making it more believable that he saves the day at the end. While most of the characters are underdeveloped (I can’t even remember the names of most of the teenagers), the stakes are higher in the sequel. There are a lot more people out at sea in this one that might become fish food. And Brody’s two sons are also out there, making this battle a personal one for him.

While avoiding showing the shark increased suspense in the first film, as a kid I was more frightened when I saw it in the sequel. Sure, it looks fake and mechanical when I look at it today, but I covered my young hazel eyes and shrieked like a baby when I saw it back then. That huge gray thing with black eyes and layers of sharp teeth could eat me up, and not in the affectionate way my grandfather used to say he would.

After the immense success of “Jaws,” every studio on the planet was making a creature feature to rake in the bucks. Needless to say, most of these movies were mediocre to abominable. The suits at Universal realized this, so they were eager to make a “Jaws” follow-up before the monster movie popularity well ran dry. And in case you don’t know, there were many ideas for the sequel including a prequel set in World War II aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis. But back then sequels were not as inventive or original as they are today, so they decided to do the safe thing and just tell another shark-attacks-swimmers story.

Now, given all that I’ve laid on the table about “Jaws” and “Jaws 2,” which is the better movie? “Jaws,” of course, which has become one of my all-time favorite films. But “Jaws 2” has its moments and even surpasses its predecessor in a few ways. Today I think of it as an appetizer before enjoying a main course. I’ll even watch it first to soak up that Amity atmosphere before popping in my crystal clear Bluray of the original afterwards.

As I mentioned, Brody is stronger and more in charge in this one, the stakes are higher and more personal because there are more potential victims, there’s more action in general and less talk, the plot, although rehashed from the original, feels more linear and less uneven than the first, and the shark’s electrocution at the end may actually be a more believable and thrilling death than the oxygen tank explosion from the original. Even John Williams adds more original music to the sequel, not simply recycling the iconic score he created for the first.

After reading this article, some of you may want to extend me a hearty handshake and buy me a Heineken while others may hope a Carcharodon carcharias swallows me whole or rips me to pieces. Either way it’s cool. If you love “Jaws,” I consider you a friend. I’ve lost friends and made others arguing about “Jaws 2,” and I always welcome opposing thoughts. But one last thing I’ll say I love about “Jaws 2,” it makes me appreciate the greatness of the original more every time I watch it.

Rumor has it they want to remake “Jaws.” I say no! Remake “Jaws 2” instead. I’d love to see a young Quint on the U.S.S. Indianapolis fighting sharks to deliver the Hiroshima bomb. What an adventure that would be.

Long live “Jaws 2”! Nibble on it a bit, chew a few morsels, taste it, swallow, and let it prepare your palate for the main course, “Jaws.” After all, one bite deserves another.

Words by Jason Michael Stillman

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