SAW II
A Lions Gate Films release
Story - $9.75
Acting - $9.00
Directing - $8.00
Production Design - $10.75
Special Effects - $10.75
Score/Music - $9.75
*"REEL" VALUE - $9.67 = You can’t put the
lightening back in the bottle, but they sure shed enough blood in this
gorefest trying to!
SYNOPSIS: “Hello, Michael. I want to play a game…”
The disturbed yet brilliant mastermind of “Saw,” Jigsaw, has
returned and has set in motion another round of horrifying life-or-death
games, his most elaborate and complex puzzle to date. When a new victim
is discovered dead with all the signs of Jigsaw’s handiwork. Detective
Eric Mathews (WAHLBERG) is taunted by Jigsaw into his labyrinth of
terror as he joins the investigation, one that apprehends Jigsaw with
little effort, bit not without its share of causalities. For Jigsaw,
getting caught is simply another part of his diabolical plan. By the
time the police have Jigsaw handcuffed in his lair, eight more of his
victims are already fighting for their lives. A key player is Detective
Matthews’ son, Daniel (KNUDSEN ). Detective Mathews is brought into
the game and time is running out for the Detective, his son, the seven
other victims, and even Jigsaw.
REVIEW: The percentage of good horror sequels to bad ones is
about fifty-fifty, and SAW II is by far one of the better ones. Unlike
the rare situation of a film like “The Empire Strikes Back” or
“The Godfather 2,” the majority of the key players responsible for
the success of the first film are not attached to SAW II. Star and
screenwriter of the original, Leigh Whannell, does share a screenplay
credit with director Darren Bousman, and Jigsaw, along with Amanda, are
back, but that’s about it.
In terms of the plot, the writing team did an exceptional job of
creating this setup. Still, any viewer that is as big a literary fan of
the genre as they are a cinemaphile of scary movies will quickly
recognize this tale as a marriage between Thomas Harris and Agatha
Christie. Detective Matthews and Jigsaw are battling wits like Clarice
Starling & Dr. Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs,” although Jigsaw
hasn’t really ever eaten anyone. The folks fighting for their lives in
the house are reminiscent of Christie’s “Ten Little Indians.” In
this day an age the studio would never let you have ten little Indians,
but five will do. Still, if you add up all of Jigsaw’s victims in the
film you get damn close ten. One by one, the folks trapped in the house
are dying in a unique death befitting their crimes, and they are all
connected via some type of legal doings. Some of the final gags never
play out because of the time frame of the film, and a bit of background
information on some of them remains superficial. The screenwriters also
tip their hands a bit as to films logical outcome by using a few visual
references that harkens back to the first film. When the last drop of
blood is spilled the film’s cinematic crescendo reverberates with a
bit of mild surprise and a slight foreshadowing of what might come to
pass in the final act of this Jigsaw story that is now being billed as a
trilogy.
As with “Saw,” a critical element to this film’s success is
casting. Tobin Bell does an excellent job of creating Jigsaw. There are
moments when he is talking about his views on life and why he does what
he does that go way beyond the film and feels like he is talking to each
member of the audience. Donnie Wahlberg does a convincing job, and the
rest of the cast trapped in the house of horrors rise well above the
status of being cannon fader, stereotypes, or the limits of the
screenplay.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman is a fine director when he isn’t trying
to be stylishly clever by coming up with quick cuts or going a bit
overboard on the whole shaky camera look. It seems like they need to use
the shaky look a bit more here to accommodate the addition of several
more metal songs into the film. Generally, Bousman creates a tons of
tension and terror, and delivers a film the complements the original
nicely.
While the flmmakers of SAW II are smart enough not to tip their hat to
the audience you can’t help but feel that they were patting each other
on the back and thinking, “What clever lads are we!” By the end of
the film I think they’ve done an admirable job, but I personally
don’t think they’re as clever as they’d like to believe. But that
maybe because they don’t think the audience is as smart as they are.
Now they’ve got some clever traps and lots of violence and blood, and
it makes for a fine horror and Halloween film. The rest depends on your
point of view. Would I run out and pay to see it again like I did the
first film? Maybe not, but I’m sure these clever lads have something
in reserve for the DVD that will interest me enough to watch it again.
CREW: Director - Darren Lynn Bousman; Screenplay - Darren Lynn
Bousman & Leigh Whannell; Producers- Mark Burg, Gregg Hoffman, &
Oren Koules; Director of Photography - David Armstrong; Score - Charlie
Clouser; Production Designer - David Hackl; Costume Design - Alex
Kavanaugh; Makeup - Patrick Baxter; pecial FX Supervisor - Tim Good;
Visual Effects Supervisor - Bret Culp Stunt Coordinator - Alison Reid.
CAST: Jigsaw / John… TOBIN BELL; Amanda… SHAWNEE SMITH; Eric
Matthews… DONNIE WAHLBERG; Daniel Matthews… ERIK KNUDSEN; Xavier…
FRANKY G; Jonas… GLENN PLUMMER; Addison… EMMANUELLE VAUGIER;
Laura… BEVERLEY MITCHELL; Obi… TIMOTHY BURD; Kerry… DINA MEYER;
Rigg… LYRIQ BENT; Michael… NAOM JENKINS; Gus… TONY NAPPO.
* Based on the regular $10.75 ticket prices of a Manhattan
theater.
Reviewer: Joseph
B. Mauceri
Score: 
Related web link: SAW
II Official Site