Decent film, but failed to match it's predecessor

Rating: 4/10 (1 November 2005)

I went to see this film last night in a cinema with only about 20 people in it and you could have heard a pin drop. It's always good to be able to see a film with like minded individuals who don't go to the cinema to catch up on gossip. You would like to think that anyone going to see this film would know exactly what they were in for, which in this case seemed to keep out those hoping to see some mildly scary 'boo!' shocker that we have seen before. Anyway, I digress. As a stand alone movie, this would have been far more effective for me. But, unfortunately, for someone who was trying really hard to enjoy it as much as I had 'Saw', it let me down in several departments. I guess a lot of that may have to do with the setting. Some of the atmosphere is inevitably lost in a cinema. In your front room with the lights down and creaky boiler, who knows, things may have been different. But from the start of this, the foreboding unknown quantity that heralded the first one was absent. Yes the Venus fly trap contraption was horrible and the dilemma was,er, unfortunate for the guy but I never really felt that shocked. That for me was about as evil as it got and the predicaments that others in the movie found themselves in never quite matched the initial one, nasty as they certainly were. I felt that there were so many other ideas that could have been used and that would have increased the cringe factor. I didn't cringe once! When you consider some of the devices of torture and death used throughout the centuries, is falling into a pit of needles really that bad! The acting was OK and was at an acceptable level, considering the material. It didn't need to be great because that's not what we come for, but all involved did fine for what was required which was to look and act scared / shocked / angry etc at the right time. The story has pretty much been discussed to death (ho ho geddit!) so everyone should know it by now. The story, however, is not as good as in the first 'Saw', and to my mind was never going to be. The environment was not as creepy and intimidating and there were more characters involved. The first 'Saw' was much more personal and intimate and you felt that you were in the same room to a certain extent. In the sequel, I felt that I was watching it more from a distance and did not feel as involved. To achieve the feelings of fear / anxiety / dread that all horror movies strive for (don't they?) you have to feel a certain amount of sympathy / empathy with at least one of the characters and build around them an atmosphere where you know and feel evil things can happen. In 'Saw 2', gory as it was, there was no real dread, just waiting for the next set-piece, which, if more elaborate and interesting, would have saved the film, but they weren't. I enjoyed the film and didn't expect it to live up to the original. I wouldn't advise seeing it before the first film as it will spoil it, but it is unfortunate that some of what made the first so interesting is missing this time. As an aside, as a 35 year old, I still can't get used to seeing Donnie Wahlberg as a Dad!