Saw II * *

Released: 2005
Runtime: 93 minutes
Rated: R for Grisly Violence and gore, terror, language and drug content.
Language: English
Country: USA
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman


Cast:
Tobin Bell...............Jigsaw
Shawnee Smith..........Amanda
Donnie Wahlberg........Eric Matthews
Erik Knudsen.............Daniel Matthews
Franky G.................Xavier
Dina Meyer...............Kerry

Tagline: Oh yes, there will be blood

The original Saw appeared just as horror films were coming back into the mainstream. It was the first gore flick to get a real media buzz since Scream appeared back in the 90's. I was psyched about it weeks before hand and mildly disappointed on opening night. Naturally, I stayed away from Saw II until it hit DVD and I can't say I regret the wait.


The movie picks up with the Jigsaw still at large and spreading his own twisted brand of enlightenment. This time, instead of grisly scenarios spread around the city, everyone is trapped in a funhouse of death. It's like an outward bound weekend gone bad with the ropes course made out of barbed wire and the pits filled with used hypodermic needles. The participants are an eclectic group of low lives who all have something in common besides they fact they were kidnapped and poisoned. The clock is ticking and their only hope is to survive the Jigsaws traps to reach the antidote in time.


Saw II's biggest problem is that we could care less about the victim's survival; none of them are very interesting or sympathetic. There is nothing all that creative about the plot or the traps, its like a gorier version of Agatha Christie's "and then there were none" but with all the mystery torn out. While Donnie Walhberg has proven himself to be a decent actor, all he gets to do here is chew scenery as the clichéd troubled cop. Ultimately we're invested in this movie long enough to see how it plays out with the characters survival rates only to be somewhat meh about the big surprise ending.