Jaws 2

It’s a sloppy mess. Yet the premise, a lone predator amongst a pile of human delicacies, is so audience-friendly that it could easily yield several sequels. Of course, under the hands of a capable director, which this film’s certainly isn’t. The direction is utterly unimaginative; much more could have been squeezed out of the moment when a group of young people tie the boats together to better face the danger. It was also sorely missing a charismatic character like Robert Shaw’s in the first film. Roy Scheider alone couldn’t save it. (24/08/2003)

The saying that repetitive becomes funny unfortunately does not apply to Jaws 2. I don't even mind the fact that it’s not a particularly imaginative variation of the Spielberg classic, but I get annoyed by the incredible slowness and futile evocation of a terrifying atmosphere... which dissolves in the long details of quieter passages and disappears in the wild cuts of action scenes. Even Scheider's Brody is desperately colorless, indistinct and doll-like. A few decent jump scares and a few tense moments emerge from the depths, but most of the film is stuck in a stony shoal of boredom and lifelessness. The shark is just too rubbery and absolutely no fear radiates from it. Why settle for an imitation, when the master has already created something better? (26/07/2004)

The tension is there (I never had the wistful feeling of “What if a shark appeared now?", it just always appeared all of a sudden), the playful directing likewise, only the shark, John Williams (who saves the atmosphere), Roy Scheider and a few others stayed. Jaws 2 is just another film featuring a man-eating shark that can't equal Spielberg's unsurpassed original, but on the other hand, it's fortunately not completely moronic. (27/05/2017)

An indescribable drop in quality compared to the brilliant first part. The first one was frightening not only by the sight of the seemingly calm seabed accompanied by Williams' brilliant music, but the film as a whole had an unpleasant and tense atmosphere. That’s what I hoped for in the sequel, but in vain; the first half is downright weak and boring, the attacks are unimaginative, without suspense and without blood. The second half, however, seems to be a completely different film, with the voracious toothy beast finally taking the lead role, and the filmmakers supply it with plenty of tasty prey. Yes, towards the end the film has a really great pace, the atmosphere is at least a little reminiscent of its famous predecessor, and the entertaining action climax is something even master Spielberg would not be ashamed of. For me, 65%. (01/08/2011)