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Printer-Friendly ModeSaw II as sharp as original
October 31, 2005 —
Like most everyone else, my exposure to Saw came in DVD form when word-of-mouth began pushing the movie to cult status. So when Saw II hit theatres on Friday, just a year after the original, I had my doubts that it could even come close to its predecessor. But with a wonderful story and another twist of an ending, I came to one conclusion:
I was wrong.
Saw II has everything the original had plus some of the character depth the first was missing, all weaved into 93 minutes of what could be the best horror film you may ever see.
The plot again revolves around the Jigsaw Killer, John, putting his victims into elaborate and deadly circumstances to get them to see the value of life. This time, the lives at stake are a group of petty criminals and drug dealers locked in a house filling with the Saw favorite, slow-acting nerve gas. Also in the house is Daniel Mason (Erik Knudsen), the son of detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg), who discovers John's location early in the film and joins a S.W.A.T. team in trying to apprehend him. The only catch is, they learn the captives have two hours to live and watch the entire thing play out on video monitors that are placed throughout the house.
Again, the movie gives the audience brilliantly cruel puzzles that are improbable yet believable. Director Darren Lynn Bousman (who took over for Saw director James Wan), leaves the audience biting their lip and hoping what they are afraid will happen won't happen. And what usually does result stems from writing that should leave other writers jealous. The film is so perfectly constructed, right down to the dialogue, that it should remind viewers of The Sixth Sense - you watch the movie again to look for plot holes but amazingly find none.
What you do find, though, are John's motives and back story - something lacking in the first film. We learn exactly why John does what he does and at times, even feel sorry for him. There are even moments in the film where you are left feeling John is justified in his actions, something which is just as freaky as the rest of the movie.
If the film does have a fault, it is again with the over-acting seen in the first film. While Wahlberg is great as the foul-tempered detective, some of the captives have the tendency to go over the top. In particular, Shawnee Smith is guilty of this as Amanda. Saw fans may remember her as the one woman who lived through Jigsaw's game when she escaped from a rusty jaw-ripper-offer by removing its key from the belly of a fellow-captive. Captured again by Jigsaw, she spends the first part of the movie being unbelievably vague with her unknowing counterparts. The line, "You have to play by his rules!" can leave you shaking your head but is excusable given the rest of the movie's genius. And perhaps the movie trades John's story by giving us very little of the captive's, but we are given enough to get by and that is all that really matters.
In the end, though, what makes the movie is the puzzle. What made Saw so wonderful was that no one saw the ending coming. So of course, viewers will be left trying to figure out Saw II as they go along. But for the most part, the viewer doesn't figure out until the end, which makes the entire ride that much more enjoyable. Overall, Saw II isn't blood-and-guts scary or dead-body-falling-out-of-nowhere scary. What will make viewers love this movie is that they will not be able to help but wonder what choice they would make if they were put in their shoes. And with how the movie plays out, they should just be happy they do not have to make that choice.