Movie Review: Jaws 3

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: A few decent scenes

Cons: Too many bad one and laughable effects

The Bottom Line:

Shark in water park

A few sequences are good

But it’s mostly bad

“Let’s Go Swimming.”  “No, I Hate the Water.”

I knew fans point to the Jaws franchise as one where quality declines all the way through, but especially in the third and fourth films.  I’ve always been curious just how far things dropped.  Having now watched Jaws 3(D), I can say they fell pretty far with this one.

While none of the actors from the first two are back, we do get two of the characters.  We catch up with the Brody Brothers in Sea World in Florida.  Mike (Dennis Quaid) is working there building the various enclosures the park needs.  He’s also dating Dr. Kathryn Morgan (Bess Armstrong), who is in charge of the animals in the park.  Sean (John Putch) wants nothing to do with the water.  In fact, he’s visiting while on break from college in Colorado.

The park is connected to the ocean, although the animals and performers are usually in a lagoon that is fences off from the ocean proper.  However, unbeknownst to everyone, a great white has gotten into the lagoon.  How long will it be before anyone realizes what has happened?

I will give the movie this.  Yes, it took a little bit of time before the characters realize they are dealing with a shark, but they weren’t dumb for long.  Yes, so they make a few dumb choices once they know, but that’s a different discussion.  But I appreciated that they didn’t drag out this early part of the story.

I do think the idea of a shark in a water park has potential.  And, it was nice to get away from Amity.  That poor island needs a break.  It also allows them to not have to bring back any of the actors, who weren’t interested in returning.  But fans of the franchise will struggle since we have nothing familiar here.  This really is a sequel in name only.  The Brodys mention a few of the events from the first two movies, but it really could be anyone.

Anyway, as I was starting to say, I did like the water park setting.  I’m a bit surprised that Sea World allowed their name and location to be used in the film.  I wouldn’t think this would be the kind of publicity the park would want.  Even saying there is no such thing as bad publicity, I wouldn’t think they’d want to be associated with this film.

But back to my main point.  The setting had some creative touches that brought some new action sequences and set pieces to the movie.  I enjoyed them for what they were.  Usually, we could see them coming, but they were still entertaining.

I will also give the cast credit.  While it appears Dennis Quaid was high the entire time they were filming (he’s admitted as much), I found the performances fine.  A couple of real-life animal handlers and trainers were in the film, which is fun.  Among the cast I haven’t mentioned already are Louis Gossett Jr. and Lea Thompson.  This is actually Lea Thompson’s debut.

So far, it’s sounding like I mostly enjoyed the film.  Sorry to mislead you, but that’s not the truth at all.  The original Jaws is famous for not showing the shark early on.  That’s a wonderful story telling choice, as long as the director knows how to handle it well.  That’s not the case here.  We get a few good sequences, but most of the time, we don’t get the buildup and tension we need to actually be in suspense.

There’s a reason I put the D in quotes earlier.  Yes, this movie was originally released in 3D back in the 1980’s, so the technology was very different from what we have today.  I watched the movie on TV, and it was converted to 2D.  Yes, we could definitely see some of the 3D shots and what they would have been.

But here’s the problem.  Some of the regular shots just don’t look good because of the conversion.  We got cloudy and out of focus scenes as a result.  It’s distracting and takes away from the film.

And some of the effects?  Even by 80’s standards, they are pretty cheesy.  I’m thinking especially of the climax, which had me laughing.  Frankly, I have several questions about how realistic most of the climax was, in fact.  Yes, I’m nitpicking over a movie about a killer great white shark.  I realize that is just crazy, but it made me roll my eyes as I was watching.

Unless you are looking for a D monster movie, there’s no reason to see Jaws 3(D).  It adds nothing to the legacy of the franchise and the couple of entertaining sequences aren’t enough to justify sitting through it.