7tavern: Saw II

Saw II

Sound (2)
2.5
Plot (2)
2.5
Cast (2)
2.5
Special Effects (2)
2.5
Length & Pace (2)
2.5
Cinematography (2)
2.5

Directors: Darren Lynn Bousman,

Writers: Leigh Whannell (written by) and,  Darren Lynn Bousman (written by),

Release: 8 October 2005 (USA)

Tagline: We Dare You Again...

Plot: Jigsaw locks a few unlucky people in a booby trapped shelter and they must find a way out before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas and die. But they must watch out, for the traps Jigsaw has set in the shelter lead to death also.

Cast: Tobin Bell - Jigsaw / John,   Shawnee Smith - Amanda,   Donnie Wahlberg - Eric Matthews,   Erik Knudsen - Daniel Matthews,   Franky G - Xavier,   Glenn Plummer - Jonas,   Emmanuelle Vaugier - Addison,   Beverley Mitchell - Laura,   Tim Burd - Obi (as Timothy Burd),   Dina Meyer - Kerry,   Lyriq Bent - Rigg,   Noam Jenkins - Michael,   Tony Nappo - Gus,   Kelly Jones - SWAT Member Pete,   Vincent Rother - SWAT Member Joe

Runtime: 93 min  | 95 min (unrated version)

Country: USA

Language: English

Company: Twisted Pictures

Links: IMDb Profile

Categories: Horror, Thriller

Main

Trailer

Squish
Reviews: 740
Points: 0 (Level 1)
Reviewer

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2.5

Saw II (2005)

"Step by step, step right up! Try your luck at the decapitation booth. Keep your head and win a prize, stuffed elephants for everyone!"

Genre: Crime Horror Thriller Serial

Starring: Tobin Bell (The Quick And The Dead; Black Mask 2: City of Masks), Donnie Wahlberg ("Band Of Brothers"; Sixth Sense)

Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw III)

Overview: In this sequel to Saw, Jigsaw is up to his old tricks and traps again, this time with a house full of victims.

Performance:

Take a wild guess. We have a jacked-out, pumped-up, steroid-laden rage case, the token black dude, the freakish lanky quiet guy, the ditzy blonde and the Mexicano Chicana. As if you're even here for the acting, you're here to watch them die and that's what you get. Ok, ok, ok, Donnie's fine.
Rating: 6

Cinematography:

Gore, gore, bloodspray, gore, bone chunks, fiery flesh and um... splatter! This is pretty. They even had some really professional camera work and artistic special effects, they seem to actually use light meters, there's no boom mikes in the shots... It's like someone actually PAID to make a pretty movie! Wow! Oh and there's gore. Lots of it. I'm talking eyeballs! Oh yeah!
Rating: 9

Script:

In all honesty, a little thin, a little weak, a little trite, a little too transparent. Sure, there's some family conflict and inter turmoil but this collection of characters is actually quite stupid. I don't care how low their education was, there's no better word than 'Stupid' to describe how they interact. Maybe their upbringing was different than yours or mine, maybe they were selected for this test because they were 'lesser beings' but don't make me swallow that bitter pill, thank you very much.
Rating: 7

Plot:

Remember the Horror movie where there's a guy killing people and only one person can save them or watch helplessly as they all die? Off the top of my head I can't either, but this totally tributes that. Not only do we have a group of people that may be able to save themselves, but we have a deeper, more philosophical plotline that involves the cop trying to save his son, one of the victims, by trying to reason with the baddie. Not only that but there's a nice little lead-in to the sequel and a pretty cool twist.
Rating: 8

Mood:

There is a problem however. If any of you have ever seen Cube, you'd know that regardless of the characters, the traps and clues don't change. This film, however, depend too greatly on the mad mindset of one particular character. Had they acted sanely, they may have brought about a different conclusion, yet this unpredictable soul needed to be just so for this to end properly. For banking too much on someone's madness, this loses points. Otherwise supercool.
Rating: 8

See that kid in the back, he looks like the new kid on the block. He looks like he'll make, he's hanging

Overall Rating: 76% (Sure, I'd See It Twice...)

Aftertaste:
So it looks like this is going to be at least a trilogy and hopefully the next new endless series of this generation's permutation of the Slasher Flick. And you know, Slasher Flicks suck. It's all about a guy slashing someone else to death in one fell swoop. There's no drama, there's no sense of adventure, it's just doop-de-doop-de-doo...DEAD. This way, not only are there cool traps and clues to maybe survive, but when people DO die, it's this elaborate machination of mechanical engineering, which is totally cool. And better than Valentine, who just goes around stabbing people. How lame.

Recommendations: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009), Requiem for a Dream, Dawn of the Dead

Last updated: 2010-06-30 10:51:40 by user07

2010-06-30 10:49:25

Ryneb
Reviews: 149
Points: 0 (Level 1)
Reviewer

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2.5

Movie Review - Saw II (Unrated)

Oh yes... There will be blood. And I think we gathered that after seeing the last Saw. The makers of this film definitely upped the ante since the original, and it shows. I remember going to see this movie in theaters with my friends around Halloween time, and it definitely is a great way to ring in the holiday.

Saw II centers on a dirty cop, who, after framing people and sending them to prison, is targeted by the slowly dying Jigsaw, who has put his son in a house filled with poisonous gas AND the released "convicts" that the cop put away. The great Donnie Wahlberg stars as Detective Matthews, who, after playing the game for far too long, opts out of finishing and starts dealing force to Jigsaw, leading up to a startling conclusion.

I really like how the movie starts off with a really brutal bang. In the first movie, we were just thrown into the chaos and confusion because we, along with the victims, had no idea who Jigsaw was or what his aim was. In this movie, now that Jigsaw has been widely published in the news in the Saw world, and the audience has seen the first movie, we are treated to a very visceral reality that Jigsaw is not done with testing the public. The director made a really decisive move to give us an omniscient view of the world.

The acting is a lot better than the first one, which may be due in part to the highly evolved scriptwriting. I mean, it's still a horror movie with F bombs all over the place, but it makes the characters seem smarter. A little. The one drawback, though, is that there isn't much time for characterization. Yeah, we get some flashbacks and a little information, but we don't know much about each individual person. The crimes that Detective Matthews has committed are only mentioned in passing by Jigsaw, and if you don't catch it, you won't even know that Matthews had an affair with the woman cop. I think part of the characterization problem is that there are just a ton of people infesting in this movie. It's hard to focus on any one character because we are always flying around elsewhere, between the interrogation of Jigsaw and the games in the house, that we can't really learn about anyone.

I heard a lot of people say that they don't like how this movie focuses on a group, that it's just Saw with more sheep to shear. While that is true, I think it was the right place to go. We probably would have gotten bored if it had only been a couple individual people trying to solve Jigsaw's puzzle again. It also gives gorehounds a good, entertaining flick to watch.

The gore is definitely there, and the people are stupid, but the movie makes it clear that they're supposed to be. Amanda always tells them that it'll be a trap, and they don't listen. It goes with the overall theme of Saw, that people won't change their ways unless you make them. People are stubborn, like Detective Mattews.

It's also chilling, as Petra said from Lil Blog of Horrors, that this kind of thing really could happen. Anyone who knows engineering could devise these traps, and set off on a homicidal spree. Some people have only committed minor crimes that Jigsaw tries to change, so any one of us could be walking around and get picked up by someone like Jigsaw.

While the movie loves to terrorize this group of people, it does have a cohesive and complicated plot. The plot twist really got me when I first saw this, and the recap is helpful in that you pick up on all of the clues that Jigsaw gave, and become a Monday Morning Quarterback, calmly stating that you TOTALLY would have picked up on THAT. For sure...

Anyway, Saw II is a tight, ugly, dirty gorefest that picks up where the last one left off in a literal circle. If you're caught up in the movie, ironically you probably won't see the plot twist coming. This Saw takes the first to a wider level, giving some background on Jigsaw's character while at the same time characterizing humanity as a whole.

Not only is it scary to think of how the people who had the idea for the traps came up with it, it's also scary to believe that this is the form that humanity has taken.

(Read Less...)

2010-01-18 23:01:28

Squish
Reviews: 740
Points: 0 (Level 1)
Reviewer

Saw II (2005)

"Step by step, step right up! Try your luck at the decapitation booth. Keep your head and win a prize, stuffed elephants for everyone!" Genre: Crime Horror Thriller Serial Starring: Tobin Bell (The Quick And The Dead; Black Mask 2: City of Masks), Donnie Wahlberg ("Band Of Brothers"; Sixth Sense) Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman ( Saw III ) Overview: In this sequel to Saw , Jigsaw is up to his old tricks and traps again, this time with a house full of victims. Performance: Take a wild guess. We have a jacked-out, pumped-up, steroid-laden rage case, the token black dude, the freakish lanky quiet guy, the ditzy blonde and the Mexicano Chicana. As if you're even here for the acting, you're here to watch them die and that's what you get. Ok, ok, ok, Donnie's fine. Rating: 6 Cinematography: Gore, gore, bloodspray, gore, bone chunks, fiery flesh and um... splatter! This is pretty. They even had some really professional camera work and artistic special effects, they seem to...

(Read More...)

2010-06-30 10:49:25

Ryneb
Reviews: 149
Points: 0 (Level 1)
Reviewer

Movie Review - Saw II (Unrated)

(Read More...)

2010-01-18 23:01:28

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