Due to the massive success of the original film, Universal brought back Roy Scheider as Amity's sheriff Brody to take on yet another human-munching great white shark, only this time he has to do it solo as the town mayor and everyone else doesn't believe him.
Totally watchable sequel benefits from bringing back a handful of the original cast and though it is a tad silly at times and seems to focus a bit too much on the teenage characters for one's liking (even if the "boat siege" last third is pretty darn good) it's still an entertaining sequel that's well-directed with plenty of nice-looking shots (Szwarc's panning down from a lighthouse onto a beach is quite the shot).
While this continues the series trend of the follow-ups being poorer than the one before it this has to follow in Spielberg's grand original - so it's a given it wouldn't be as good.
Some decent suspense, Schieder's good performance (he makes Brody much more obsessed this time out) and a handful of memorable moments (the body pop-up and teen getting rammed into the boat stick-out) make this worthwhile.
The scene with a chopper would be cloned in later low-budget flicks (most notably 1980's Great White) and though the shark looks a bit rubbery it's not nearly on the lame level Jaws:The Revenge was.
Directed By: Jeannot Szwarc.
Written By: Howard Sackler, Dorothy Tristan.
Starring: Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gray, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo.
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