No, this wasn't as good as the original, but it wasn't bad, either. In fairness, the audiences knew what to expect in this one and had already been shocked by the killer Great White Shark. Thus, it was no way audiences were going to react to the sequel as they did the first Jaws movie.
It didn't have Steven Spielberg directing, but it did have the same locale with same principal characters on "Amity:" mainly Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), his wife Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) so one didn't feel as if this was a completely new film. There was continuity to it, and we have the same problem (a big shark eating people). The main difference is that it is just a few years after the first horrifying incidents.
This story mainly involves Chief Brody's teenage kids and their friends. Overall, the film moves a little slowly the first hour, but picks up dramatically in the second half. In fact, it turns out quite intense, just like the first film. The main mistake the filmmakers made - which they wouldn't do today, was that it was too slow for too long. That, and the fact that the area residents apparently had a short memory; unrealistically short.
Anyway, the shark looks more realistic.....and if you can hang in there, you'll be rewarded with some good escapist entertainment in the second hour.
