MovieChat Forums > Jaws 2 (1978) Discussion > Were there too many teens?

Were there too many teens?

posted 7 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (67902921)
5 replies | jump to latest

Seems like there were so many teens that some of them never got to do very much. When we first see Brooke, we assume she might be a major character, but she's long gone before all the real chomping takes place. Marge only got to speak twice and then she was eaten. We barely knew her. Mike Brody, who is in all four films, takes the last half of the movie off completely. I had to look up Lucy's boyfriend's name (Patrick), he has that one big scene near the end..."Lucy...NO!"

Should they have given more screen time to specific characters instead of focusing on such a large group? We would be more invested in their well being if we knew them better?

I think we may have another shark problem.

[–] bastasch8647 7 years ago

Too many anonymous characters who happened to be teens, yes. In the Spielberg film, we were made to care about the major characters (unlike Jaws 2's characters who were written either too thinly or too obnoxiously) - but especially about Brody, Hooper and Quint. Three guys on a boat, and their adventure scared and inspired us. Not so Jaws 2, which tried to "spread the dread" among too many characters. Had the dread been concentrated on just a few endangered teens literally lost at sea, Jaws II could have been a much better and more highly regarded critically film. And the character development narrowed down to three or four teens would almost certainly have made it a much more interesting film.

[–] Bernnard_Black 7 years ago

Totally agree. Too many characters with zero development. If it had been a smaller group that had been better developed over the story it would have worked better.

Whores will have their trinkets.

[–] ErgonomicSpliff 7 years ago

There were originally supposed to be even more teens. The group we see in the film is the smaller group.

[–] roland-rockerfella 7 years ago

Jaws 2 is a pretty decent sequel, except for all the screaming teems. Compare them to the Quint, Hooper, Brody second half of Jaws it is defiantly the weak part of this film.

[–] Negasonic_WoodChipper_Warhead 7 years ago

There might have been a few too many. Always resented that Timmy, Mike and Brooke got off so easy, sailing in and away from danger. Did the film even need them? I guess so, as a way of informing Brody. Everyone always complains about Jackie's screaming, but it's a genuine reaction by a terrified girl in that situation. Donna Wilkes does an amazing job.

 That's right! You're about to be killed by a zamboni! ⛄