Second "Saw" not as sharp.

Rating: 5/10 (10 June 2006)

It seems that it is written in the Hollywood textbooks that every successful film will eventually spawn a sequel, or even an entire series.
Such is the case for the latest horror franchise best known as "Saw", a small, low-budget film which quickly became a highly bankable hit, and inevitably produced a sequel that was promptly released in just a year's time.
Whereas many lamented the amateurish style and performances of the first installment, it nonetheless presented a creative, gritty and tense premise, elements that were sorely lacking from the recent teen-friendly offerings.
Unfortunately, this sequel follows the same ideas, but with slightly different implications, and a lot less originality.
This time around, the same villain, the "Jigsaw" killer returns, but his victims have grown in numbers, from two people to a group of eight. Cancer-stricken Jigsaw, continues his mission to teach ungrateful people about the meaning of life, and ultimately, about the lack thereof.
The setup for Jigsaw's latest challenge is an abandoned house where his group of "players" are held captive. They are an assembly of seemingly random strangers who all have an unknown connection to each other. Meanwhile, air ducts throughout the house, are releasing a lethal nerve toxin, whose effects can be reversed by means of an antidote, an antidote that can be found, but not without first having to explore some elaborate and potentially deadly traps.
Investigating the Jigsaw case, is Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), who soon learns that his wayward son, Daniel, is part of the group of young victims, which throughout, are being guided by Amanda (Shawnee Smith), who managed to survive Jigsaw's first orchestrated reign of terror.
Tobin Bell who portrays Jigsaw, is a lot more prominent this time around, and becomes an identifiable character, rather than just an invisible threat. Yet, the psychological head-games found in the first film, are substituted here, with predictable by-the-numbers carnage and basic horror movie clichés. The film also plays out like a television reality show, where contestants confined in the same living space, must compete against time, and against each other, to claim the final prize, in this case, their own lives.
Despite its shortcomings, the film offers up plenty of cutting edge material that is sure to satisfy the hardcore fans of the genre, which is a good thing, since it looks like Jigsaw's legacy will live on for a long time to come.