I saw what you sawed last summer

Rating: 4/10 (3 January 2006)

James Wan's sleeper-hit "Saw" is one of the best and most memorable horror achievements of the last fifteen year, simply because it finally dared to shock and/or upset audiences again! No politically correct or goody-goody teenage horror in which girls are screaming and running while their breasts nearly burst out of the too-tight tops. No, even though far from flawless, "Saw" was a creative and full-blooded horror film and thus a sequel was inevitable...and the sooner the better, according to Hollywood rules. It's only normal that the surprise and shock effects of the first have entirely vanished, but you're aware of that (or at least you should be) before watching it, so expectations are automatically set a little lower. Personally, I assumed that every true horror fan would agree this sequel is not a patch on the 2004 original but, and to my amazement, a lot of people seem to prefer it! Granted, the acting performances are better (though not that much...) and it is true that new writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman attempts to bring more depth and background to the characters. But more background also means more chance to create plot holes and confusion, and regretfully that is what happens here most. The opening sequence of "Saw 2" is still very powerful and it easily could have come straight out of the first. After the credits, however, it goes downhill as fatigue copper Eric Matthews is challenged to a deadly game by the notorious Jigsaw-killer. The presumed sadist-killer turns out an old and pathetic cancer patient who can't stand it when people waste their lives aimlessly, while he has still so many dreams but can't fulfill them because of his disease. Apparently many fans liked this revelation. I sure didn't. Anyway, Jigsaw  or John Cremer, as he prefers to be called  kidnapped a whole lot of petty criminals and locked them all up in a nasty old house filled with traps. Among them also, is detective Matthews teenage son Daniel. Together, they have to look for clues that'll help them escape the house before the deadly nerves gas, which is spread around all the rooms, kills them first. Basically, "Saw 2" is an expansion of the first film, only with a whole group of people instead of just two and a police officer who's more involved with the victims. The rest is pretty much identical and thus very repetitive. The murders also are a lot less imaginative and disturbing and I only counted ONE genuine shock-moment...which involved a pit and large amount of eerie syringes. All the aspects like set pieces, camera-work and musical score are good but  again  they're largely copied from the first movie and thus not worth praising. "Saw 2" is a generally endurable sequel that enthusiast genre fans won't mind checking out, but don't expect another mesmerizing horror experience. As the tagline implies, there IS blood!...Oh Yes, there's blood, alright, but not much else.