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Movie Review - Saw II (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Darren Lynn Bousman |
| Starring: |
Donnie Wahlberg, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Dina Meyer, and Beverley Mitchell |
| Rated: |
R (for grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content) |
| Length: |
93 minutes |
| Genre: |
Horror/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood |
| Studio: |
Lions Gate Films |
| Website: |
Saw II |
| Release: |
October 28, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Jigsaw (Bell) is back and this time he has locked a few unlucky people in a booby-trapped house. A lethal nerve
gas is filling the room, and they only have about 2 hours to figure out the puzzles that will lead them to the
antidotes. Will they all work together to find a solution, or will the survival instinct kick in and result in
every-man-for-himself mayhem?
What exactly does everybody have in common, and how is Detective Eric Mason (Wahlberg) connected to them? Jigsaw
seems to have a real vendetta against Mason. Why the hostility? A very brutal and gory puzzler ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Note to all the 50+ year old critics who are still single and spend most of their time in arthouses praising the
subtext of Oscar-contending foreign films: this movie isn't intended for you. You might want to keep that
in mind the next time you insist on reviewing it just so you can lambaste the gullibility of its target
audience.
That being said, I'm going to make this real simple for you readers. Are you actually part of Saw II's
target audience? Did you enjoy the original? If so, then I don't see why you wouldn't
enjoy this sequel. If not, then direct your time and money elsewhere. It's not a complicated process.
Let me make it even clearer: the opening scene involves a man with a trapjaw device hooked up to his face. He
has a very short amount of time to get the key to unlock it before the device snaps shut and uses his skull as
a pin cushion. The real kick to all this? The key is buried in his face, below his eye. But hey, he has a knife
he can use to dig it out! I'm sure there's no need for me to point out that it's not a pretty scene. This is
either your flavor of frappuccino or not.
Being a sequel, Saw II has no choice but to be looked upon with a skeptical eye. Sequels always start
with that handicap. I enjoyed Saw (especially considering its LOW budget and
less-than-stellar cast), so when a sequel was announced about 12.3 seconds after Saw
made a profit on opening night, I had my doubts. The question had to be asked, is there a story to be told or
just money to be made?
There's no doubt that there's money to be made here, but thankfully the story doesn't suffer just for the
sake of making a healthy profit against yet another small budget ($4 million). The main element of Saw II's
story that really gripped me is its intense unpredictability. A lot of that is due to the fact that you likely
won't recognize most of the cast. That's fine with me. If you stick the 5'4" Tom Cruise in that room then there's no
doubt that he's going to figure out all the puzzles and save the day. However, put such no-names as Lyriq Bent and
Tim Burd in there and you know everybody's fair game!
The premise isn't much different than its predecessor - Jigsaw is one messed up individual who is dying of cancer, and
he's putting people in nasty situations to find out what lengths they'd go to in order to survive. But what I like
about the new group of victims is that they all have something in common. To make things a little more complicated,
they also have a connection to Donnie Wahlberg. Are they disgruntled New Kids on the Block fans who still feel
they're owed refunds? You'll have to watch to find out.
So is this sequel better than the original? It's hard to say. There are definitely areas that have been improved -
the acting, for example. I'm not going to claim that the acting is across-the-boards fantastic, but overall it
is better than the original. Nobody attempts the over-the-top act that Cary Elwes tap danced upon us. I particularly
liked the interaction between Jigsaw (whom we see a LOT more of) and Donnie Wahlberg. Both guys put in fine
performances.
But the main advantage that the original still owns over the sequel is its ending. I felt
Saw's climax was possibly the most exciting, most intense 10-15 minutes of any movie
of 2004. Saw II doesn't end on quite the same pace, but it still goes out with a pretty loud bang. The
suspense, tension, and painful-to-watch gore moves along at a consistent clip, and by the time it all wraps up we're
delivered a couple of clever twists and really cool tie-ins to the original. Just keep in mind that this ain't no
riblet that needs a clean picking and you should be fine.
Just be forewarned that like needles on a chalkboard, there are some scenes that will make you tense up and feel the
pain. All I'll say is when you see a big group of hypodermic needles appear on screen then go ahead and start
preparing yourself. Get in your best squint-mode and be ready to squirm.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Budget: $4,000,000
- The movie was filmed in a mere 25 days.
- Dina Meyer is hot.
- So is the chick in the movie who played Lex Luthor's doctor girlfriend on Smallville. Forgive me for
not having the desire to look up her name.
- Donnie Wahlberg was in Band of Brothers with Matthew Settle who was in Into the West with Josh
Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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I can say that this one definitely wouldn't meet mama's approval. There's not any nudity, but there is quite a bit
of profanity and gore galore. This is not for those with a weak stomach.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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No real surprises here.
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THE GIST
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If you enjoyed its predecessor, then Saw II should provide you with disturbing, gory Halloween
entertainment.
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