Jaws 2

A fairly decent sequel, Jaws 2 follows Roy Scheider’s Martin Brody as he’s once again forced to spring into action after several characters die or disappear under mysterious circumstances. Filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc, working from a screenplay by Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler, does a good job of instantly luring the viewer into the deliberate and overlong proceedings, as Jaws 2 kicks off with an engaging shark-attack prelude and, from there, progresses into a relatively promising first act – with the movie, for the most part, benefiting from its appealingly familiar atmosphere and raft of strong performances. (Scheider is, in terms of the latter, turns in a predictably compelling performance that effectively anchors the proceedings and compensates for many of its less-than-enthralling elements.) And although the remainder of the picture has been peppered with tense, engrossing sequences, including a terrific moment in which a helicopter attempts to save a group of teenagers but inevitably meets a grisly end, Jaws 2 suffers from a padded-out feel that becomes especially problematic within its packed-with-lulls second half – which, despite the presence of a comparatively enthralling final stretch, cements the film’s place as a just-good-enough followup that does, by and large, fare much better than one might’ve anticipated.

**1/2 out of ****