Saw 2

I have no idea what my title means, except that it sounded clever in my head. Hmm.

I'll assume that you've already seen the original Saw and you're wondering if this is a worthy successor. In a word: yeah. But it's a very different approach. While the first Saw was brilliantly minimalistic, the story being staged almost entirely in one room, this second installment takes us out of the box. Gone is the claustrophobic feeling of confusion and good ole existentialistic "who am I" from the original, and instead we get more of a mystery as seen from the outside, as our hero Eric (Donnie Wahlberg) tries to crack the case before it's too late.

Sure, the same elements existed in the first film, with 2 concurrent plots of victim & detective. But the draw of the first was to figure out why all these things are happening. Here the mystery is revealed in the first few minutes, the killer is apprehended, and what follows is a sort of chess game between investigator Eric and perp Jigsaw with the clock ticking to save the intended victims. It's actually a clever approach similar to the rather AWESOME film "Exorcist III" (1990) which is composed of dark dialogues between the detective and the lunatic, and this dramatic approach was repeated a year later in the more popular "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). But in this domain, in order for it to work, the film must be slow, almost painfully slow, thick and heavy.

Saw II attempts to balance the heavy, psychological "Lambs" approach with good old fashioned slashes & gore. It succeeds, I feel. But I still can't help but wonder how it would've been if the filmmakers had gone full tilt "Lambs" on us. Instead the dialogues between Eric & Jigsaw seem a bit short, rushed and not fully explored.

The result is a film which is certainly entertaining, but I don't think it will ever be considered a psychological classic like the other two I mentioned, or like "Seven"--films that are much slower in pace, with far fewer gallons of blood spilled but with oceans of drama.

I know this may sound like a negative review, but that's only because I'm comparing Saw II to the heavyweights. If instead we take Saw II at face value, a straightforward horror flick, it certainly delivers. There's the added bonus of having two nice twists at the end. In terms of sheer entertainment value, Saw II cuts a real log.

I should really quit trying to come up with witty puns.

Wow. While I enjoyed the first Saw, let me say this sequel was an utter disgrace. If its title were an anagram, as in my heading, it would be more honest. This movie was an exercise in shock video, not a horror film. Believe me, there is a difference. It looks like today's audiences have forgotten, or, judging by some poster's ages, never gotten the chance to experience, what a true horror film is.

Some reviews which gave this high ratings said they did so because it had "more movement", was "more gory and bloody" and "leaves it open for the next installment." Well, none of those suggests a superior piece of cinema. The script was poor, editing was spastic, and the characters were absent. Even in this age of sequels, need we be reminded a 90 minute film is not an episode? This is a clumsily slapped together torture fest which is missing the mystery, the characterization, and the human element of the first. Horror needs pacing, buildup, and subtlety. Apparently, bloodshed, arguing, and a tacked on twist ending which made little sense scare people nowadays. And I haven't even delved into plot yet!

In short, Saw II takes the could-be mystery and shines a light on it, takes the entities and blurs them, takes the audience and leads us by the hand to a ridiculous ending. Save your time and money, and watch some old horror on DVD instead.

Sequels rarely live up to the originals. And in the horror genre that's even rarer. I reckon that 'Saw' (part I) will always be better, due to its originality and shock value, but its (first) successor does its best to expand on the mythology and give the audience something more. In short... it's definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed the original.

The first outing could be summed up best by 'two men wake up in a serial killer's lair and try to figure out how to escape.' However, there was far more to the story than just that and the amount of different twists and turns really struck a chord with audiences (that and the amount of 'body horror' that was involved.

'Part II' ups the ante in every sense. There are more victims in the killer's latest 'lair,' more gore, more traps, more police officers trying to figure out where these hapless people are, perhaps most importantly, more of the killer himself (who was surprisingly not in the first installment very much). In fact... out of all the characters in the film, it's the killer 'Jigsaw' (Tobin Bell) who steals every scene.

As with the first film, there's more to the story than just a bunch of people trying to escape from some fiendishly fatal death-traps. 'Saw II' does its best to keep the surprises coming and, like the first, you'll only have one chance to watch it without knowing all the plot twists that will be heading your way.



So, if you liked the original then you should enjoy this one, too. In fact it's almost like these two films could have been written together and filmed back to back. After this one I only stayed with the franchise for a couple more films as the quality really does go downhill after this one. For me the 'Saw' franchise was a two-picture deal.

Although this follow-up to the marvellous 2004 thriller 'Saw' is nowhere near as great as the original, it is still a good film worth watching.

The "Jigsaw" killer plays another sick game with another unlucky group of people. They are placed in a booby-trapped house that is slowly filling up with a lethal nerve gas. They are doomed to die, unless they can find out what they have in common, complete various tasks in the house and find the antidote.

Where the original film's gore could be forgiven on the account of its high logic, this lazy sequel is just gore for its own sake. The pace has been slowed down to a snail's and there are fewer scares and twists to keep the viewer as interested. Nevertheless, few viewers will have worked out the final, nasty twist, which makes it all worthwhile.

A few unfortunates people(Glenn Plummer,Enmanuel Vaugier,Beverly Mitchell,Erik Knudsen, among others) trapped into closed building and they must encounter a way out before inhale a lethal nerve gas. But they must also avoid the deadly traps Jigsaw(Tobin Bell) has set on the way. Meanwhile, a policemen(Donnie Wahlberg,Dina Meyer) and SWAT track down from him. Jigsaw, who is on the brink of death , has become obsessed for revenge and has prepared twisted traps. The group must race against the clock of Jigsaw's on ticket heart affected by cancer.

This second sequel from original by James Wan, packs grisly terror, tension, suspense and lots of blood and gore . The film takes accent as suspense as well as terror with creepy use of images- shock and slick edition. Provides an imaginative and well-knit screenplay plenty of twists and surprises . Sinister and mysterious atmosphere , well made by cameraman David Armstrong and eerie musical score adequate for mystery and tension by Charlie Clousier. The movie is again starred by Tobin Bell, he's a secondary actor working from the 80s in TV series(Walker Texas Rager, Stargate SG1, Alias, 24) and occasionally for cinema(Goodfellas, The firm, Ruby, Black mask 2), achieving success with Jigsaw character. The motion picture is well directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. It's followed by Saw III by same director and with Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith and Costas Mandylor; Saw IV again with Donnie Wahlberg, Dina Meyer and in pre-production, Saw V directed by David Hacklin with Costas Mandylor.