Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

Jaws: The Revenge is the film that killed its franchise. Notorious for being bad I actually found large portions of this film surprisingly watchable, not good really, but not the trudge I was expecting. Where the film really falls apart is in failing to bring its desperate, under developed themes and subplots together in a satisfying way. I can even forgive the ridicules premise of the shark seeking out various Brody's for revenge, though that begs the questions which shark? All the villainous sharks in the previous movies were killed in their respective films, so is this some relative seeking out revenge for its kin? The final confrontation is jarringly fast and unimpressive, and (spoiler, as if they matter here) when Mario Van Peebles survives at the end, that is ridicules that shark definitely killed him. The lack of stakes in this film, even given the death of a major character early on, shows how far the franchise had fallen, the feeling of real stakes is what made the first Jaws so powerful, and the lack of which is what makes Jaws 4 look even worse then the admittedly crappy movie it is. *1/2