Very good

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2009)

Saw II is a more than worthy sequel to the superb original and also a solid horror/thriller on it's own. The traps are creative (one in particular is absolutely horrific; it involves someone having to dive into a pit of needles), and the twists are both shocking and brilliant. There's also something that most Hollywood horror films are missing nowadays: character development. Jigsaw is explored deeply and Tobin Bell delivers a chilling performance. The character has become a famous horror icon, ranking up there with Freddy Krueger, Norman Bates, and Michael Myers.
The suspense is there and hardly ever let's up. Saw II doesn't have the BEST suspense (the best would be in Saw and Saw III), but it's still impressive seeing how most horror films today lack in that department. I was on the edge of the seat the entire 90 minutes.
The subplot that goes on is very interesting and ties perfectly into the rest of the story. There are a few flaws though, and that's what kind of bogs this film down from getting a higher rating. The characters in the subplot are for the most part stereotypical and underdeveloped. Plus they're given some pretty mediocre dialog throughout. If the number of characters was reduced and there was more time spent on developing them and improving on the dialog, I probably would of liked it a bit more.
Even with those few negative aspects though, it's still very good and easily one of the best sequels in the Saw series.