Jaws: The Revenge

Starring: Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Caine, Karen Young, Judith Barsi, Mitchell Anderson
Directed by: Joseph Sargent
Rating: PG-13
Thriller
1987

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary) fears for her family's and her own safety after a brutal shark attack in Amity. She flees to the Bahamas, but trouble follows her there.

Review:

Tim: Immediately after finishing Jaws: The Revenge, I wasn't immediately struck by how bad it was. It was clearly the worst movie in the franchise, but I thought it wasn't awful. A few minutes after the conclusion of the film, some disturbing thoughts started entering my mind. I started questioning some of the scenes and events in the film. Events started to become more and more absurd- plot holes grew in length. The quality of the film in my mind started dropping- slowly at first, but eventually dropped into a freefall. Many people claim this is one of the worst movies ever made. I wouldn't agree with that, but this is a pretty awful movie.

There's just so much here that is asinine. Let's start with the fact that apparently, a great white shark swims (awfully fast, by the way) from Amity to the Bahamas, in search of Ellen Brody. Think about that for a minute. How the hell would the shark know where she went? She flew there in a plane. That's awful writing. In addition, we have so many bizarre, stupid scenes. Apparently, Ellen Brody has a psychic link with the shark. We also get some shark heartrate technology that "works" in suspiciously bullcrap ways. The shark also happens to roar, which is impossible and actually pretty moronic. I could go on and on, but the plot holes and logic gaps in this film leave almost nothing left. I felt a little bit like Neo in the Matrix here- as if I could physically see the plot holes growing larger and larger while I watched the film.

While this lazy, stupid writing ruins the movie, I still feel like I was a bit more kind to this film than other reviewers. For one, we're still watching a killer shark fighting humans. That's always fun, no matter how absurd. This movie is also helped greatly by the cast. I know Michael Caine took this part for money, but he's a fantastic actor, and he does bring some class and talent to the film. He's not great in it, but he's easily the best part of the movie, and I enjoyed his scenes. I've also always had a soft spot for Lance Guest (ever since The Last Starfighter). He's not nearly as good as Dennis Quaid was as Mike Brody, but he's not too terrible, either. I was glad to see him here. I also liked seeing Lorraine Gary, ending an 8 year movie drought to come back for this role (and then to retire again). She's not spectacular, but it was nice seeing her in this role again. I also thought Mario Van Peebles was pretty awful in it.

I also have to mention that I was a bit disturbed that this film took the liberty to assume the events of Jaws 3 never happened. I don't really like when movies do this, and it bothered me a bit. I suppose the events of this film could have worked in that movie continuity, but it would still be a major stretch. I just don't like when movies ignore those that came before it.

I have to admit that I was completely disengaged while watching this movie. There was nothing to hold my interest, no reason to care about any of the characters. It felt like the movie rallied a bit for the big finale, but it ultimately ends in one of the worst ways possible. We have Ellen Brody (apparently) visually recollecting events for which she was not present. I understand there may be alternate interpretations, but it's all very confusing and represents some awful filmmaking. We also have one of the most absurdly scripted, illogical "happy" endings I've ever seen in a movie. Jaws: The Revenge certainly wouldn't let logic get in the way of a "good" ending.

To be honest, the longer I think about this movie, the worse it gets in my mind. There's just so very little to like here. In many ways, I hated this film. Even still, I've read reviews of people who hated it far more. I think this is a very bad, poorly made movie, but there's at least a small amount of enjoyment that be culled from this film. Still, there's a reason why this movie ended the Jaws franchise for 20+ years and counting. It's that bad.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3, Jurassic Park, Deep Blue Sea