Review: Saw 2
By: Chuck Thomas | Category: Film Reviews | 02/13/05 | 11:34 AM
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Grade: B | Genre: Thriller/Horror
Summary: The Halloween season has already passed, but seeing Saw 2 is still recommended, as the twists, gore and great acting by Tobin Bell make the movie a suitable sequel.
After 2004's bone-jarring giallo homage Saw, Saw 2 writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman teamed with Saw scripter Leigh Whannell to amend Bousman's original script into a sequel. The only problem: how to top the original? The answer, apparently, was the typical recipe for disaster, which is to throw more on top. More victims, more story twists, more gore, etc. Surprisingly, while this usually fails, Saw 2 manages to make it work for the most part. |
Instead of two people trapped in a bathroom, we now have eight hapless victims wandering about in a house attempting to figure what their connection is before the poisonous gas being pumped into the vents kills them all. We have the increasingly violent muscle man, the frightened young boy, the mysterious Amanda who we recognize as a survivor from the first Saw, plus a slew of other minor characters that you realize early on aren't going to be making it very far. While this helps maintain the intensity level, the issue is that we don't learn very much about the characters and therefore don't care quite as much when they are violently offed.
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| Saw 2 |
| Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg, Erik Knudsen & Franky G |
| Director: Darren Lynn Bousman |
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| View the Trailer (Quicktime) |
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While the story in the original focused on the two main characters, there are multiple intertwining storylines in the sequel that help keep the action moving along. We are introduced to Eric Matthews, a high-strung detective who receives a very personal message from Jigsaw, the psychotic mastermind who is orchestrating the string of deaths in the city. The police track him to a warehouse where Eric confronts the cancer-ridden Jigsaw, who presents a problem for Eric: Matthews' son Daniel is locked in the aforementioned house with only Jigsaw knowing the way out. Meanwhile, the resourceful Daniel is busy trying to figure out the puzzle of the house amongst a gang of people who grow constantly more dangerous. Again, this keeps the suspense on a razor edge, as the poisonous gas begins to make the inhabitants crazy, and as typical with thrillers (and giallos in particular), things are not always what they seem.
The tagline for the movie is very appropriate when it says, "Oh yes, there will be blood." The movie is filled to the brim with gore, even more so than the original, possibly due to the slightly larger budget. In any case, there are definitely some stomach churning moments, such as skin being cut off, throats being sliced open, and someone crawling in a pit full of syringes. The movie is not for the weak stomached by any means.
In the original, we only got to see a small glimpse of what Jigsaw was really like. The best part about the sequel is we finally are able to watch the man in action as he runs complete circles with everyone involved with his 'game.' The acting by Tobin Bell is top-notch as it is very easy to hate Jigsaw when, for instance, he cracks a smile as he tells Matthews that it won't be "too long now til your son starts pissing blood!" Bell is a treat to watch as the ultimate mind-warping psycho.
The only other real problem with the movie is the ending feels a bit lacking. After the strong conclusion of the original Saw, it would have been tough to hit on the same level, but while the final ending makes sense, it doesn't hit a nerve and ends the movie with a paper cut instead of the deep laceration it needed. Since talks for Saw 3 have already started, maybe we'll see a more suitable conclusion in that one.
The Halloween season has already passed, but seeing this flick is still recommended, as the twists, gore and great acting by Tobin Bell make the movie a suitable sequel.
Originally Posted: November 11, 2005
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