By Geno McGahee
I never knew that sharks seek revenge, but they actually do. JAWS: THE REVENGE came out in 1987, 12 years after the original captured the imagination of the public. Much like JAWS 3-D, this film gets bad press, but if you enjoy absurdity and can recognize the fun factor, you can’t ask for much more. I actually found this film much more ridiculous than JAWS 3-D. I laughed throughout most of this great movie.
Sean Brody (Mitchell Anderson), son of legendary shark killer Brody (Roy Scheider), is now a cop and living his life. When he goes out to investigate an issue in the water, he is attacked by a huge shark. Now, immediately, this movie gets good. Sean keeps screaming for help as the shark attacks him and right when you think he’s dead and the scene is over, it goes back to him screaming for help again. I was hoping that it would last longer. It was hilarious.
Widow of Brody, Ellen (Lorraine Gary), is devastated and has dealt with this before. Her husband’s encounters with sharks have left quite the mark on her. Now I have to say that Lorraine Gary is a terrible actress, but her hilarious performance adds to the charm of this movie. Mike Brody (Lance Guest) no longer works at Sea World apparently and comes down with his wife and daughter to comfort his mother. Although no longer working at Sea World, he still works in the water and that terrifies his mother because she knows that sharks seek revenge. This particular shark will not stop until it kills the entire Brody family.
I found it funny that the memory of Brody was shat on in this film. Brody was a man’s man… a hero…a tough guy that protected a town multiple times. It is noted that he died of a heart attack, but Ellen quickly breaks in and screams “he died of fear!” She basically said “the guy shit his pants every night and hid under his bed until he dropped dead.” Brody’s memory deserved better than this.
The family plans a trip to the Bahamas because a shark cannot live in those warm waters. Ellen is not convinced. This shark will follow them all that way to kill them for revenge. Son of a bitch shark…. And she’s right! The shark that killed Sean shows up in the Bahamas.
Mike works with his friend, Jake (Mario Van Peebles), and even though Sean just died, the two are having a great time. There is almost no impact on Mike it seems. Perhaps he saw the point of view from the shark and understood the murder. Now, Mario Van Peebles….where do I begin. He can actually act rather well when he wants to. He didn’t want to here, apparently. A terrible accent, strange dialogue that is apparently partially adlibbed (if not fully), and overacting that would make Nicolas Cage blush, makes Van Peebles a great thing to watch. I nearly look at this film as a spoof of the first, but I think they were being serious.
I was happy to see the great Michael Caine in this movie. He plays the love interest of Ellen, “Hoagie.” Hoagie is a pilot that has some shady stuff going on behind the scenes. Mike doesn’t trust him with his mother but she is finally happy. She is finally over the death of Sean. It took two days, but she’s finally over it and is enjoying life again. Caine is once again remarkable. They can give him any material and he will make it gold.
A final showdown with the shark results in a hilarious conclusion to this ridiculous film. The shark literally explodes when it’s hit by the boat. Why? Who knows? All that matters is that after the 85 minutes of absurdity, it was the only way to end it.
JAWS: THE REVENGE is hilarious. This one is much more in the style of the third than the first two. I actually thought that JAWS 3-D was as crazy as it could get, but this one is twice as insane and silly and it brought me much joy. I highly recommend it.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
