If I were to make an appropriate comparison, Jaws 1 was a White shark bite, ferocious and huge, Jaws II would be a bite from a Blue Shark, still nasty, but lacking the ferocity.

The film reminds me of the Halloween follow up in so many ways, the first being a moment of cinema where the game was changed, a massive act to follow, both feel like a direct continuation of the first, both have quality, but lack the originality and impact of their predecessor.

Jaws II is slow to start, but as it gets going it really cranks up the tension, featuring some really good, tense moments. The shark has become a psycho killer instead of just a predator, and is now intent on killing its victims in the way Michael Myers did.

Some good strong special effects, I thought in several scenes the shark looked very realistic, I've never been a fan of the ending though, it's just a bit silly. Roy Schneider clearly did not want to do this film, and I think it shows in his performance, he is not happy.

It's a pretty good sequel, trouble is the original is a classic.

Four years on from the events of 'Jaws' the population of Amity Island have got on with their lives; the tourists have returned and they don't want to think about sharks. Then a couple of divers go missing and two women are killed in a 'boating accident'; Chief Brody is in charge of the investigation and after the body of a killer whale, complete with bite marks, washes up he is convinced that there is another great white shark in the waters round the island but the town council doesn't believe his claims. Then a group of youngsters, including Brody's sons, go out sailing... inevitably they have a run in with the shark and Chief Brody will have to take to the water again to try to save them.

Not surprisingly this isn't as good as the original film; that would have been very difficult. It is however pretty good. There are plenty of scary moments, certainly more than I expected in a UK-PG rated film. It starts well with the divers being killed as they explore the wreck of the Orca, the boat from the first film, and follows that up with an impressive explosion. We then get the chief's fears not being believed which did feel like a bit of a rerun of what happened in the first film. Things get better again when the youngsters sail into danger; the shark may be shown a bit too much and it looks no more realistic than that in 'Jaws' but the young actors do look genuinely terrified which helps make it acceptable. The cast is decent enough although Roy Scheider stands out with his fine performance as Chief Brody. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the original.

I will say this, Jaws 2 is much better than the abomination that is Jaws:The Revenge, but at the same time it lacks the qualities the original did have. The original film is a masterpiece and one of Steven Spielberg's best movies. Not only was it brilliantly directed and wonderfully scored, but it was genuinely atmospheric too. In fact, Jaws was the film that made me afraid to go into the sea.

What let Jaws 2 down pacifically was the narrative and story, too predictable and sedate for my tastes. The dialogue also lacks polish, with some of the more tense moments not quite coming across as believable and the more humorous moments feel forced. The direction is lacking in tension too, which is disappointing considering that was one of the main reasons why the original worked so brilliantly, while the film is not as efficient pacing-wise with one or two scenes feeling rather overlong.

However, the production values are far from cheap, in fact with the crisp enough cinematography and editing and authentic locations it is quite striking. John Williams' score is still as thrilling as ever, another component that made the original so genuinely atmospheric, the shark attacks are well done with enough suspense (though it could have perhaps been a little more) and the shark is adequately menacing. The acting is fairly good, all the characters are likable enough, and the actors seem to be having fun in alternative to looking and sounding bored.

All in all, acceptable while lacking. 6/10 Bethany Cox