Far Beyond My Expectations

Rating: 9/10 (28 October 2005)

I wasn't expecting much out of this sequel. To be honest, I wasn't even planning on seeing it. My movie companion and I were out to see "The Weatherman," but it wasn't playing at the theater we frequent, so we settled on this instead.
I wasn't planning on seeing this because I thought the first "Saw" was alright, but not particularly memorable.
This one is. This one will make even jaded horror fans squirm for a bit. I know I did, and I'm not what you'd call squeamish. Still, this isn't just a gore-fest. The plot is brilliantly well-executed, and unless one is very observant one will not guess the twist in this one.
The acting is solid, too, all the way around. All in all, this sequel was far better than the original in every way I could have wanted it to be. It's single flaw was the editing, which at times was so choppy that it became hard to figure out what the audience is supposed to be seeing.
"Saw II" is absolutely worth seeing; I highly recommend it to fellow horror enthusiasts. You won't be disappointed.