Saw II

Review by Jason Gaston

 

So the first Saw managed to make a little bit of money and, like any good studio would do when they see a rock, they're going to do anything they can to squeeze some blood out of it. This sequel was unnecessary, ill-advised, and the vary fact that it was made was just another indication of Hollywood's unoriginality and greed.

That being said... why didn't this movie suck? I really don't understand. I mean, it's the sequel to Saw, for goodness sake. Saw! Saw, a pretty good thriller in itself but not exactly the kind of film that I would picture a line of sequels popping out of. I mean... it's Saw for goodness sake!

So, why didn't this movie suck? It's a good question. A question that should probably be answered by those who think that they are smarter than me. Personally, even though the film had a slow start, I found this movie to be just as entertaining as the first. Best of all, there was no Carey Elwes to screw it up this time around.

Let me fill you in just in case you're out of the loop - which, if you are why are you reading a review for a sequel to a movie you're never seen before, you cheeky bastard?

There is this guy the media has dubbed The Jigsaw Killer who is dying of cancer. He targets people who, in his mind, do not appreciate the life that they have been given and, instead of becoming a motivational speaker or self-help author, he does the more interesting thing of putting people in painful and elaborate traps that they have to punch and crawl their way through in order to survive and appreciate how precious life really is.

In a way, he's like one of those nut jobs who bomb abortion clinics and kill the people inside all in the name of preserving life, but if he was sane I guess the movie would be short and boring.

Saw II uses an expanded version of the formula used in the first movie. Here, Jigsaw has set up a house filled with several people who, at first glance have nothing in common. They are being exposed to a nerve gas and have only a few hours to find the antidote in the house full of deadly booby traps and painful puzzles.

Meanwhile Jigsaw himself is apprehended, but this devious bastard isn't down for the count by a long shot, for you see he has an ace up his sleeve... one of the people in his funhouse is the son of the detective who's come to get him.

Also, that detective is Donnie Wahlberg who used to be Donnie from that band The New Kids on the Block. That fact really has no bearing on the story, but I like pointing that out in the hope that he will someday read this review and that will annoy him.

Sorry, Donnie, but that's what you get for an entire junior high year of listening to that crap.

I wouldn't begin to call Saw II scary, but it is psychologically disturbing and intense as a thriller and the blood and gore in this movie are rarities in today's teenie bopper dominated movie market. Let me put it this way, kids. I watched The Fog yesterday and that pansy-ass PG-13 pukefest only wishes in its wildest and wettest dreams that it could be half the movie that Saw II is.

Some call it base and tasteless entertainment, but it is entertainment. The rock video direction of certain scenes does get annoying, it does lack the feel of originality of the original, and I don't feel like the intensity reached its full potential, but I was extremely satisfied in this unnecessary sequel.

If only all the unnecessary sequels could be this good.