The rule of sequels states that a sequel will always be worse than the original. While there are a handful of expectations, this rule largely holds true. Sequels are, for the most part, greenlit from a profit perspective. An existing film that is popular already has a built-in audience compared to something brand new no one has ever heard of. Sequels are smart from a purely fiscal point of view, but they’re often done at the expense of quality and originality.
The Jaws quadrilogy obeyed the rule of sequels to a T. The original film won three Academy Awards upon its release and remains a classic to this day. Each subsequent sequel birthed a slightly worse version of itself in terms of both critical acclaim and gross earnings. The final film was so universally panned and made so little money that no one has touched the franchise in 33 years. Jaws: The Revenge, indeed.
Jaws (1975) │ 98% Fresh │ Gross: $471,961,371
Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws tells the story of a coastal resort town terrorized by a great white shark. Its main (human) character, police chief Martin Brody, eventually teams up with a shark expert and a marine biologist to journey out to sea and kill the maneater once and for all.
The film is largely considered to be the first summer blockbuster and it's important to view it in that context. Jaws isn’t Moby Dick. The shark isn’t a metaphor for anything and the film doesn’t have much going on in terms of subtext. The story is straightforward and character motivations are easy to discern. It’s a simple man vs. nature story that’s exciting to watch and extremely well-told.
The film was very positively received by both critics and audiences. It is now considered a classic and sits at number 56 on AFI’s 100 Greatest American Films Of All Time. Jaws helped change the movie industry and kept people out of the water, but its sequels would not garner quite the same level of prestige or influence.
Jaws 2 (1978) │ 58% Fresh │ Gross: $187,884,007
Jaws 2 picks up right where the first film left off. A new series of deaths make Chief Brody suspect another great white shark has arrived, but no one will believe him. Disobeying his orders, his sons Mike and Sean sneak out to go sailing with friends. Of course, he was right and now this group of teenagers is stuck at sea facing off against a great white.
The first sequel marks the start of the decline of the franchise. Everything about it is bigger and louder, but it’s a worse film for it. That’s not to say it’s a bad thriller. It’s probably the Citizen Kane of the people-trapped-on-boats-stalked-by-sharks genre. It just lacks the creativity and sense of adventure of the first film.
Critics largely disliked it, but it wasn’t completely panned. In fact, many thought it was a proficient sequel. Those who thought this film was bad couldn’t possibly imagine the true carnage that was coming.
Jaws 3-D (1983) │ 12% Fresh │ Gross: $87,987,055
Jaws 3-D finds the adult Brody brothers, Mike and Sean, working at Sea World Orlando. Unfortunately for them, a great white shark and her baby find their way into the park’s lagoon and start eating the guests and staff. That’s it. That’s the plot. It’s also in 3-D.
Obviously, the filmmakers understood that what drove people in droves to the first two films was their need to experience the breathtaking verbal exchanges between the Brody bros. This film is noteworthy for being Lea Thompson’s debut, but otherwise, everything about it is lukewarm. It’s not very scary. It’s not very good. On its own, it’s not even a so-bad-it’s-good scenario.
What elevates this film to one of the worst movies ever is the shoehorning in of the 3-D effects. The need for scenes to be in 3-D necessitated the inclusion of many weird shots and narrative decisions. All of the effects look awful. They somehow look myriad times worse when watching the movie in 2-D, as anyone who didn’t catch the film in the theater will be. This film is such a fun mess. It would be considered the worst film of the franchise, until...
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) │ 0% Fresh │ Gross: $51,881,013
The final Jaws film focuses on Ellen Brody. Martin has died of a heart attack and a great white shark has killed Sean. Mike convinces her to come to the Bahamas to stay with him and his family. Ellen comes to realize that this shark is stalking her family and decides she needs to destroy it. Let's say that again: The shark. Is stalking. Her family.
Oof. Jaws: The Revenge has a lot of problems. The film is awful in just about every way a film can be awful. It’s filled with so many WTF moments and lapses in basic logic. In one scene, Ellen's new beau comes out of the water after falling into the ocean and is somehow wearing bone dry clothes. Why move to an island to get away from shark attacks? Why and how would a shark hunt individual family members? Which shark is this? At one point, Ellen even has flashbacks to scenes from other movies that she wasn’t in. Its incompetence is compelling and hypnotic.
Jaws: The Revenge is unquestionably one of the worst films ever made and it couldn’t have possibly gotten to this level of notoriety without riding the popularity and critical acclaim for the franchise that came from the first film. While there have been rumors about a Jaws reboot for years, this film completely killed the franchise along with any interest in reviving it. If a franchise is going to end on a low note, it might as well end on the lowest one possible. The only sin committed by Jaws: The Revenge was that it swam a little too close to the sun.