Decent plot, horrible characters

Rating: 4/10 (28 October 2005)

What the HELL. Okay, given that I've just wasted my money on this crap, I'll try to be as fair as I can.
The original Saw was an intelligent, complex, entertaining horror movie (bad acting aside). Saw II absolutely does not live up to its predecessor. THE ONLY expectation Saw II lived up to, it my opinion, would have to be that of a typical horror movie sequel - Disappointing.
I'll outline the plot without spoiling it for you if you're planning on seeing it: A bent cop finds himself involved in the notorious "serial-killer" Jigsaw's latest game. His son is one of 6 people trapped in a house, trying to find the antidotes for the toxic gas they're breathing. The 6 captives are told that they have 2 hours to work out the combination to a safe in order to get some antidotes within it, or work out the puzzles in various rooms of the house to find individual doses of antidote. So the race begins!
To be fair, the plot and puzzles are quite good; my favourite would have to be the pit of needles, as well as the Jigsaw's own game with the cop himself, to talk (you'll understand what I mean if you see it). A couple of ideas are recycled from the original film, but it all works well with what's happening. What makes Saw II suck so much is the bloody characters! They can only be described as predictable, run-of-the-mill and most of all aggravating! The way they behave is simply not the way anyone with any sort of sense would react in their given situations! This is the case with basically all horror movies, so that aside, a lot of the characters are still just plain dumb.
Really, if I would've known this is what the film would be like, I wouldn't have paid money to see it. If you have seen the original Saw and were impressed by it, just try not to have high expectations when you go to see this one. Then maybe you won't be as disappointed as me. Rather wait for it to show on cable or something... Entertaining enough, but I could swear even the new Wallace and Gromit movie looks more promising than this load of crap.
4/10 - only because of the ingenuity of the plot.