Saw II movie review - Aussieboyreviews
IS SAW II GRISLIER, GORIER AND SCARIER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR?
James Wan’s Saw is definitely more iconic, original and clever, but Saw II somehow beats it. This grisly escape room-like sequel may be poorly acted, but it’s more entertaining and will make you wince more than the first; expect lots of tortuous traps.
Storyline
After realising that his son is included among eight people trapped in an old house riddled with torturous traps by the serial killer known as Jigsaw, a detective must participate in one of the serial killer’s in order to save his son’s life.
Movie Images
Movie details
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Cast: Donnie Wahlberg, Erik Knudsen, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Franky G, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Dina Meyer, Glenn Plummer
Writer: Leigh Whannell, Darren Lynn Bousman
Release Date (Australia): 17 November 2005
Runtime: 93 minutes/1h 33m
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Language: English
CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)
The film contains strong themes of murder, torture, self-harm and attempted suicide, drug addiction and scenes in which characters are forced to mutilate themselves under the threat of a sadistic serial killer. A character is also burned alive in a furnace.
The film contains strong gory depictions of shootings, throat slittings, a character cutting her wrist and a character being hit with a baseball bat spiked with nails, accompanied by gory depictions of blood and injury detail.
The film contains use of the words “bitch”, “ass” and “s**t”, as well as often aggressive use of the word “f**k”.
The film contains a depiction of a character injecting heroin and features multiple verbal references to drug addiction.
None.
A crude verbal reference is made to a woman’s genitalia.
mpaa rating
R (for grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content)
Aussie boy's thoughts
One would be forgiven to think that due to mostly poor performances, less originality and cleverness from the original, and (possibly mild spoiler) the Jigsaw killer being revealed in the first act, that this sequel would be terrible. But that’s just simply not the case with the gory, grisly and incredibly messed up Saw II. This is one of those rare cases where the horror movie sequel strives to defeat the original. If Saw is going to become a giant franchise, let’s hope it stays as fresh as this.
It’s never frowned upon to discuss the film’s pros before its cons, but with this movie, it’s probably better to quickly get the negatives out of the way so we can outline them with the positives. There are only a few performances in this movie that actually work finely. Donnie Wahlberg, Tobin Bell and Erik Knudsen, in addition to some uncommon moments in the other roles, are the only roles that draw you into the story and make you want the characters to succeed. If it weren’t for these actors and the father-son dynamic, Saw II would be nothing more than a careless, sadistic torture-fest for gore movie fans. Another minor issue this film faces is the fact that it disappoints when you compare it to the daring freshness of the first film. This sequel is basically an escape room thriller with some nasty traps riddled throughout.
Despite the absence of talented ability in areas the first Saw found triumph in, this horror-torture sequel is much more entertaining and exciting. Only a twisted man’s mind could come up with the ideas of such sadistic and suspenseful traps/situations, making for several sequences you’ll wince at while watching but making it equally difficult to look away, though some may need to cover their eyes. The direction, mainly during the horrific scenes where a character is facing a trap, is absolutely brilliant and the different colours in the different locations of this movie really work well; even though it’s very low-budget and rushed. As well as being sadistic and grisly, it’s also a guilty-pleasure of a film where you’ll even find yourself laughing for the fact that it’s kind of just so bad that it’s so good. Some people will see Saw II as a silly cash-grab, but you’ll likely have a lot of fun with it.
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