Thursday, March 15, 2007

Saw II [Unrated Edition]


The first "Saw" was a great little horror film with a wonderfully fresh premise. The film broke free of many of the formulas and clichés of slasher films and entertained audiences with a more intelligent brand of horror. It was only common sense that the money counters would quickly rush a sequel into theaters and "Saw II" found its way to theaters a year after the original. Since sequels to low budget horror films are typically far inferior to the original, there was worry as to whether or not the sequel could build upon the solid foundation of the original and many fans of "Saw" hoped they would not be served a steaming hot plate of "The Blair Witch Project: The Book of Shadows." The filmmakers were given a difficult task of keeping true to the original "Saw," but to make the second entry in the series its own film, that did not simply carbon copy the first.

Skipping past the gory details, "Saw II" is a decent film, but it is left cowering in the shadows of the film that it follows. Director/Writer Darren Lynn Bousman and Writer Leigh Whannell do succeed in delivering a clever tale of horror and screams that contains the clever inventions and torture devices of the first, but moves out of the foul and disgusting bathroom and into an entire house of pain. As was the case with the first saw, the visuals are enough to send you to the showers after watching the film, the gore is convincing and sordid in its gruesomeness and provides a plot twist or two that the viewer will likely not see coming. With the audience already being familiar with the character of Jigsaw, the second film introduces a protégée and characters that both survived and succumbed in the first film are nicely interwoven into the threads of storytelling in this second movie.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) escaped capture in the first film and continues on his ´work´ of testing the moral fibers and character of his victims with intricately designed games that typically ends in death. Jigsaw is further falling prey to the cancer that is bringing about his own demise, but he still has one big game to play before his death. He lures the police into his evil lab, and is especially interested in Officer Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). When Matthews and his team raid Jigsaw´s domain, they find the madman attached to an IV needle, but patiently awaiting Matthews. Jigsaw has a big card up his sleeve and is not quite ready to be taken into police custody. A number of young people of different sex and race are being watched by monitors in a backroom in Jigsaw´s lair. One of the people is Eric´s own son and the young people are not alone. There is a deadly toxin in the air and if they do not find an anti-toxin in a short time, they will all die a grisly death.

I´m not going to spoil the plot, because that would totally ruin your first watching of "Saw II." Once you know the film´s important secrets, it becomes a completely different film. Fortunately, this film is written in a manner that once you do know the twists and turns that will eventually unfold, repeated viewings give you the opportunity to notice clues or hints that are dropped to detail the future events of the story. The first time is definitely the best time to watch "Saw II" and this is exactly the case with the first film. They are good movies and you can watch them easily more than once, but the shock values of the first viewings are the optimal experiences. The endings and twists of the "Saw" films easily rival any twists in an M. Night Shylaman movie.

"Saw II" is a good movie. It is not nearly as powerful, original or entertaining as the first film in the entry, but this is far superior than most sophomore efforts in the horror genre. You won´t have a "Book of Shadows" taste in your mouth after watching this movie. It is closer to a "Friday the 13th Part 2" that that craptastic followup to "The Blair Witch Project." Donnie Wahlberg is very good in the primary role in the film. Tobin Bell is slowly becoming an iconic horror actor in his portrayals of Jigsaw. Those that are caught in Jigsaw´s house of torture all are convincing in their suffering and pain. I didn´t love this film the way I did the first entry in the series, but I thought it was a more than adequate second chapter.

The first "Saw" was a great little horror film with a wonderfully fresh premise. The film broke free of many of the formulas and clichés of slasher films and entertained audiences with a more intelligent brand of horror. It was only common sense that the money counters would quickly rush a sequel into theaters and "Saw II" found its way to theaters a year after the original. Since sequels to low budget horror films are typically far inferior to the original, there was worry as to whether or not the sequel could build upon the solid foundation of the original and many fans of "Saw" hoped they would not be served a steaming hot plate of "The Blair Witch Project: The Book of Shadows." The filmmakers were given a difficult task of keeping true to the original "Saw," but to make the second entry in the series its own film, that did not simply carbon copy the first.

Skipping past the gory details, "Saw II" is a decent film, but it is left cowering in the shadows of the film that it follows. Director/Writer Darren Lynn Bousman and Writer Leigh Whannell do succeed in delivering a clever tale of horror and screams that contains the clever inventions and torture devices of the first, but moves out of the foul and disgusting bathroom and into an entire house of pain. As was the case with the first saw, the visuals are enough to send you to the showers after watching the film, the gore is convincing and sordid in its gruesomeness and provides a plot twist or two that the viewer will likely not see coming. With the audience already being familiar with the character of Jigsaw, the second film introduces a protégée and characters that both survived and succumbed in the first film are nicely interwoven into the threads of storytelling in this second movie.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) escaped capture in the first film and continues on his ´work´ of testing the moral fibers and character of his victims with intricately designed games that typically ends in death. Jigsaw is further falling prey to the cancer that is bringing about his own demise, but he still has one big game to play before his death. He lures the police into his evil lab, and is especially interested in Officer Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). When Matthews and his team raid Jigsaw´s domain, they find the madman attached to an IV needle, but patiently awaiting Matthews. Jigsaw has a big card up his sleeve and is not quite ready to be taken into police custody. A number of young people of different sex and race are being watched by monitors in a backroom in Jigsaw´s lair. One of the people is Eric´s own son and the young people are not alone. There is a deadly toxin in the air and if they do not find an anti-toxin in a short time, they will all die a grisly death.

I´m not going to spoil the plot, because that would totally ruin your first watching of "Saw II." Once you know the film´s important secrets, it becomes a completely different film. Fortunately, this film is written in a manner that once you do know the twists and turns that will eventually unfold, repeated viewings give you the opportunity to notice clues or hints that are dropped to detail the future events of the story. The first time is definitely the best time to watch "Saw II" and this is exactly the case with the first film. They are good movies and you can watch them easily more than once, but the shock values of the first viewings are the optimal experiences. The endings and twists of the "Saw" films easily rival any twists in an M. Night Shylaman movie.

"Saw II" is a good movie. It is not nearly as powerful, original or entertaining as the first film in the entry, but this is far superior than most sophomore efforts in the horror genre. You won´t have a "Book of Shadows" taste in your mouth after watching this movie. It is closer to a "Friday the 13th Part 2" that that craptastic followup to "The Blair Witch Project." Donnie Wahlberg is very good in the primary role in the film. Tobin Bell is slowly becoming an iconic horror actor in his portrayals of Jigsaw. Those that are caught in Jigsaw´s house of torture all are convincing in their suffering and pain. I didn´t love this film the way I did the first entry in the series, but I thought it was a more than adequate second chapter.

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