Directed by Joe Alves. Written by Richard Matheson, Carl Gottlieb and Guerdon Trueblood. Starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Lea Thompson, John Putch, Kaye Stevens and Louis Gossett Jr.
Plot: a great white shark comes into a SeaWorld theme park and the sons of Chief Brody must save everyone it endangers.
This is like if Lifetime made a movie about shark attacks, but it actually turned out somewhat decent. In this Jaws sequel, a SeaWorld theme park in Florida has created a new set of underwater tunnels for people to view the sea life. It’s SeaWorld though, so the ultimate goal of the park is not to observe life in it’s natural state, but to make money off of it anyway they can. Calvin (Gossett Jr.), the park manager, is especially concerned about the money. Also working there are Mike Brody (Quaid), Kay (Armstrong), a marine biologist and Kelly (Thompson).
One day, a great white gets into the park and people start to go missing. When it attacks Mike and Kay, two dolphins in captivity that Kay works with, Cindy and Sandy, save them. Some people want to kill the shark immediately. Some want to capture it and essentially put it on display. Yes, the movie is really dated because not a one of them thinks, “Hey, let the shark go.” Anyway, at first displaying the shark wins out and they capture it and start to train it and nurse it back to health as it is injured. Calvin becomes impatient though, and puts the shark into exhibit too soon and it dies, which crushes Kay.
This also crushes the shark’s mother, who is also loose in the park. So, she starts killing people too and so they have to battle her. It’s really so bad that it’s good in most parts. It’s quite funny actually. The cast is great and it’s a fun and easy watch. We don’t have hugely bad things to say about it, although the effects are not great. And while we know it’s just an average watch, we do recommend it. It’s much better than what most critics say.
My score: 50. DJ’s score: 60.
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