Disturbingly Good

Rating: 7/10 (19 April 2006)

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the methodical serial killer from Saw, is back! This time, he's pitted against a tough detective (Donnie Wahlberg), who must try to save his son and others from a house of horrors filled with deadly nerve gas, puzzles and death traps.
Saw 2 is just as scary and suspenseful as the original. The death traps are very creative and some of the twists are unpredictable. The original Saw was a very suspenseful film that actually terrified its audience. The sequel is more or less the same except its much bloodier. Whether or not that's a good thing is entirely up to you but it was fine by me. There were more scary, over the top gory scenes in this film then in the original Saw. There were more characters as well and that kind of hurt the film since they were all one dimensional. Some of them didn't even share their story of why they were there. The acting was well not so good. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has seen the original film.
Tobin Bell probably gives the best performance as Jigsaw. This guy is defiantly very scary and very creepy. You see a lot more of him this time around so it made the film better. Donnie Wahlberg plays the detective who is trying to hunt down the people being tortured. He does a decent job though nothing special. Shawnee Smith plays Amanda and she also gives a decent performance. Everyone else was either too over the top or under performed. The worst was Beverley Mitchell but she's from 7th Heaven so that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. James Wan didn't direct this one and it shows. The original relied more on suspense to scare its audience while this one focuses more on disturbing scenes. There were disturbing scenes in Saw but that wasn't what the film was really about. So, the director for Saw 2 isn't as good as Wan. Also, the film is too short so the story feels rushed and its not as effective as it could have been. Like the original, it's hard to feel sorry for the characters because they do bad things and are so unlikable but that's just me. In the end, Saw 2 is a very gory and violent sequel that lives up to the original. Rating 8/10.