Another classic that I never put the time into watching. I think I've seen the opening scene once or twice, but the pacing of the movie never made me feel the need to keep watching.
It still plays a little slowly. For a summer blockbuster, it's very restrained. The story isn't especially complex, there isn't much action. I'm not even sure if I could argue that it's a strong horror movie. If anything, it plays out a little more like a Hitchcock thriller. Very slowly building, a few scenes to build the tension. The photography is very coy about showing the shark, which was out of necessity, but benefits the sense of tension.
The real sense of horror in the movie is the poor leadership of the mayor. He's portrayed as being kind of incompetent, but that only accounts for his first misstep. As the movie progresses, he doubles, and triples down on his bad decisions. He also makes an effort to absolve himself of responsibility.
Perhaps I'd feel more strongly in favor of the movie if that aspect of the story had a concrete ending. As it is, it's enjoyable, but I don't know how much I'd want to re-watch it.
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