Tiburón III

A pair of Great White sharks attack Sea World in Florida.

Jaws 3-D is a mostly weak film but has the redeeming quality of presenting such an outrageous concept you cannot help but watch it unfold. Additionally, it's artistic and technical merits are quite enjoyably flawed.

Jaws 2 was an unnecessary yet well made sequel, but having members of Brody family face yet another "murderer" shark is a laughably daft concept. Rather disturbingly it continued a trend of movies that demonise sharks. There are numerous other ideas involving the behaviour of sharks/dolphins and reactions of the main characters that are equally as bizarre, but if you can switch the brain off and appreciate their entertainment value you might find it a worthwhile investment of time. It also contains recycled character arcs from the original movie that feel like pale imitations.

Technically it has problems, particularly when most viewers will not get the chance to see the theatrical release. Most visuals designed for a 3-D experience stand out and do not have the same impact.

The shark horror sequences have little build up or tension and are quite unconvincing. I do admire the ambition of attempting to create a victim's perspective sequence from the inside of its mouth, but most of the final scenes of painfully slow moving underwater horror, (particularly the moment in the control room) are incredibly ropey.

That's not to say that the classic original did not (in principle) have the same problems. A mechanical shark looks like nothing else in every Jaws movie. However, Spielberg understood this and wisely kept the shark mostly hidden and focussed on developing great characters and tension.

I feel sorry for the editor of this sequel as it appears they had to cut together footage from both above and below the sea level that make the water's depth and lighting conditions look very inconsistent.

For some balance I am positive about the performances. Most actors do their best with dodgy material. Louis Gossett Jr, Bess Armstrong, and the coked up Dennis Quaid standout. Lea Thompson has some memorable moments as the "professional water skier". It feels the direction was more focussed on making the cast look good in shorts and swimsuits than character portrayals, but they manage to elevate some scenes. Armstrong convinces me as a whale/dolphin wrangler and I think she is the strongest performer.

As a young child of the 80s I quite enjoyed it on VHS. On a recent rewatch I placed it in the genre: so bad it's good, and sub-genre: never rewatch and spoil that of which you have fond childhood memories.