Jaws 3 (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
Sea World comes under attack from a Great White shark in 'Jaws 3' (directed by Joe Alves ... and clearly not Steven Spielberg). The movie maintains a loose relationship to the original Spielberg hit, centering on Mike Brody (Dennis Quaid) & Sean Brody (John Putch), the sons of police chief Martin Brody (originally played by Roy Scheider). Mike is chief engineer at Sea World, where a baby Great White has accidentally been let into the park. Also on hand are Kathryn (Bess Armstrong), a spunky marine biologist (love interest for Mike), and Calvin Bouchard (Louis Gossett Jr.), the park's supervisor.
Kathryn wants to keep it alive in captivity, while sleazy filmmaker FitzRoyce (Simon MacCorkindale) thinks the shark ought to be killed, or else turned into a gratuitous tourist attraction. Soon, the baby shark's extremely powerful/enormous mother comes in search of her baby. The movie focuses most of its attention on the series of tense shark attacks that follow, as tourists in the park run for their lives while the park workers struggle to destroy the beast. Bloody mayhem ensues.
OK, so, this is not a great film. It's not even particularly good. It's certainly not as brilliant as the 1st film (or the underrated 2nd, for that matter). But I really liked several components of 'Jaws 3'. For one, I enjoy Sea World. So the idea of staging shark attacks inside a water park is a GREAT one, to me. i.e., there's a cool sequence where a shark fin pops up behind a chorus line of water skiers during a Sea World show. Some of the undersea footage is very interesting. On a shallow note, I love Lea Thompson (I know, I guess I can be shallow, haha); and she has a fairly substantial role in this film. And finally, while there's no Oscar-caliber acting in this movie, I admire the spirited, committed performances from Dennis Quaid & Bess Armstrong.
The shark attacks - while not as gory as the 1st 2 films - offer a visceral appeal. And the climactic scene where the Mama shark barrels towards a glass encasement to eat the park workers inside is actually very tense. So yeah, without Steven Spielberg at the helm, or John Williams' amazing score, or even a halfway decent script ... 'Jaws 3' was never going to be anywhere near the quality of the 1st incredible Jaws film. This movie is a disappointment. But it's fairly entertaining. And it's a shame that there are critics out there who only see this film as a shadow of a preceding masterpiece, and not the okay movie which it is.
Kathryn wants to keep it alive in captivity, while sleazy filmmaker FitzRoyce (Simon MacCorkindale) thinks the shark ought to be killed, or else turned into a gratuitous tourist attraction. Soon, the baby shark's extremely powerful/enormous mother comes in search of her baby. The movie focuses most of its attention on the series of tense shark attacks that follow, as tourists in the park run for their lives while the park workers struggle to destroy the beast. Bloody mayhem ensues.
OK, so, this is not a great film. It's not even particularly good. It's certainly not as brilliant as the 1st film (or the underrated 2nd, for that matter). But I really liked several components of 'Jaws 3'. For one, I enjoy Sea World. So the idea of staging shark attacks inside a water park is a GREAT one, to me. i.e., there's a cool sequence where a shark fin pops up behind a chorus line of water skiers during a Sea World show. Some of the undersea footage is very interesting. On a shallow note, I love Lea Thompson (I know, I guess I can be shallow, haha); and she has a fairly substantial role in this film. And finally, while there's no Oscar-caliber acting in this movie, I admire the spirited, committed performances from Dennis Quaid & Bess Armstrong.
The shark attacks - while not as gory as the 1st 2 films - offer a visceral appeal. And the climactic scene where the Mama shark barrels towards a glass encasement to eat the park workers inside is actually very tense. So yeah, without Steven Spielberg at the helm, or John Williams' amazing score, or even a halfway decent script ... 'Jaws 3' was never going to be anywhere near the quality of the 1st incredible Jaws film. This movie is a disappointment. But it's fairly entertaining. And it's a shame that there are critics out there who only see this film as a shadow of a preceding masterpiece, and not the okay movie which it is.