Review: Jaws 3D
Written by: Tony Lazlo, CC2K Staff Writer
For reasons I can’t explain, I’ve been holding an informal JAWS-a-thon since July Fourth. I’m not familiar with these movies’ critical reception beyond the obvious—the original is an all-time classic—but at a glance, it seems that part two has more fans and apologists than part three.
And that’s a shame.
JAWS 3, or JAWS 3D as it was billed on release, doesn’t come close to matching the original’s craft or emotion, but it does key into what could have been a path forward for this franchise: it should’ve been an anthology.
Looking back at JAWS 2, my biggest gripe isn’t that it lacks Spielberg’s involvement—plenty of good sequels have happened with new talent—but rather that it’s too close a retread of the original.
Apparently, the original drafts of the screenplay delivered a much different story, depicting an Amity decimated by the events of part one and desperate to reverse its civic fortunes. Here’s a nice write-up on it:
‘Jaws 2’ – Diving into the Underrated Sequel’s Very Different Novelization
Sequels are a strange beast. Sometimes a sequel tries something completely different and is considered a success, like ALIENS, other times a disappointment, like ALIEN 3. (Though I adore part three, and the critical and popular consensus has shifted in its favor over the years.)
JAWS 3, unsurprisingly, has more or less been forgotten, and I understand why—it’s lurid, unevenly acted, and lacks the charming characters from part one.
But at the same time, it taps into an Irwin Allen-esque vibe that I wish could’ve attracted a bigger budget. Lewis Gossett Jr is perfect as the disaster movie bureaucrat, while Brit Simon MacCorkindale hits the right notes as a rakish marine scientist.
The central setpiece—a walkthrough aquarium—is now a commonplace tourist attraction and provides the backdrop for a legitimately gripping third act.
It’s funny; JAWS 3 was one of the first movies I saw in the theater. I saw it once when I was five or six, and again this week. Across those forty years, some images lingered with me:
- • A performer (Lea Thompson!) with a gory lattice of teethmarks across her leg.
- • Park guests trapped in the aquarium’s flooding passageways.
- • The shark’s final victim being swallowed alive. This image scared the daylights out of me as a kid. Shot from within the creature’s throat, the victim’s muffled screams end in a guttural howl. It’s like something out of Melville, and I love it.
Other moments that jumped out at me: The park’s scientists trying and failing to save a dying shark, as well as some remarkable footage of dolphins at play with humans.
I can’t in good conscience tell you to run out and see JAWS 3, but it was a least blundering in the right direction.