gabrielbergmoser

With more gore, more twists, more characters and more plot, Saw II manages to trump even its own predecessor at the thriller game.

Where Saw had rare dull points, Saw II moves quickly. The traps are more gruesome and inventive, and we find ourselves with surprisingly well drawn out characters; and a plot that works fantastically as both a standalone and a sequel that expands on everything that was great about the original. Saw II really establishes the 'Saw Mythology' that fans have come to love, and as a film seems to do everything right. It hits the perfect balance between plot and action, and for the first time Jigsaw really comes into his own as a character, rather than just a scary voice on a tape recorder. Indeed; by the end of the first we still felt we knew nothing about Jigsaw, with only a couple of sparse glimpses of the man.

No such qualms here. The psychological duel between Jigsaw and the haunted Detective Matthews recalls 'Silence of the Lambs' in its brilliance and intensity, and, in what is surely rare for this kind of film, we actually feel something other than annoyance and hatred for our characters. Even the killer seems human and almost likable.

Now when was the last time you can remember a film with such qualities? It was mentioned earlier in this review; need I say more.

I'm not lying. Saw II is that good. Now go watch it.

Violence, blood, gore, vampires, Nazis, bayonets, the Vatican, Hellsing is back, and better than ever. Forget the original series, the one that shamelessly disregarded the brilliant manga. This is that way Hellsing is supposed to be! There are many contributing factors as to why this is so much better than its predecessor. For a start, the animation is amazing. Truly incredible; it has to be seen to be believed. And the music suits the epic madness of the manga perfectly.

The style and direction is fantastic as well, bringing a wild mood the original lacked.

However, it is not without flaws. A truly dreadful dream sequence and its aftermath almost spoils the piece, and you will be left wondering why the hell it was even present.

But ignore that cringe worthy five minutes, and you will have a truly satisfactory Hellsing experience, something you could never get from the original.

Still bathing in the afterglow of the brilliant Hellsing I, we now move on to the second part. So whats on offer? As it turns out, there was something strange about the duel at the end of part I. You see, our heroes were assailed by ghouls, and yet the source vampire was already dead, meaning the ghouls should have been as well. The Hellsing organization has noticed this, and called a meeting of its head council, but a mysterious organization has sent out two deadly assassins and their army to raid and destroy the Hellsing headquarters and everyone in it...

Part II advances on the already great Part I immensely. It is more gruesome, more action packed, and more engaging, introducing more about the world of Hellsing. We get to see a little of Alucards past, as well as more about Integra and Seras, our female protagonists. We also see more of the organization that will become the main villains in future volumes.

The problem is, despite all this, Part II isn't as entertaining as it could be. Yes, the weird humor is a little more suited in this one, but the direction lacks the crazy wildness that made the first one so great. This one isn't quite as good as it could be.

Although the new series is an improvement over the original, it still could be better. But thats not to say it isn't already great. The action is only beginning, and there's a lot to come...