Brutal, twisted, exhilarating.

Rating: 7/10 (30 October 2005)

I should preface this by saying I have been watching horror movies since age 4. I've seen everything the genre has to offer. From the old Romero movies up to Hide and Seek, I've got it handled.
Saw 2 is not a horror movie. It is far more.
I liked Saw a lot. One of my favorites. Knew it was flawed, but liked it a lot. The claustrophobic setting was beautiful and the twist was heart-pounding. I had my doubts about Saw 2, as the cast seemed "contemporary" and the setting of a house rather than a bathroom made me fear it would be too open to be enjoyable.
My fears were wrong, much to my delight.
A strong stomach IS required. The plot is already known from the previews, a bunch of people in a house and they need to save themselves with the clues as per the game. One of the best features is the lack of a recognizable actor save Amanda and Jigsaw himself (you might recognize Donny Wahlberg, granted). This gives the movie a fantastic "anything goes" feel where the audience doesn't feel as though any character is safe from Jigsaw's traps.
In addition, the nature of the house gives a horrid feeling of dread at all times, that a trap could spring from a doorknob or a tripwire that we don't see, and every idea that a character has to free themselves that doesn't seem like Jigsaw would have wanted it makes the viewer want to look away and wait for the loud noise and the scream. Saw 2 mastered fear, period. You wait for bad things to happen, even when they don't you don't feel as if the danger is gone.
Saw 2 is sadistic by and large. It's not the goriest movie ever, the bloodiest, or the darkest, but it is the most sadistic. It revels not in killing people, but HURTING them, causing pain both physical and mental. One thing of Saw (perhaps not the unrated version, I've not seen that yet) was that we weren't shown much of the direct actions. If we did, it was fast and brief. Not so here, we have to watch it happen right along with the other characters (group setting and all).
The plot is bigger here, more convoluted and the movie has more twists and turns. The games are harder to stomach and the characters, sadly, less developed. We only know of the characters what they tell each other, and they don't say much. That's the only complaint. An extra 10 minutes could have been spent giving us info on some of them.
I've never seen a movie as tense as Saw 2 (not even the aptly titled High Tension), and with the exception of Fight Club, I have never been so shocked at an ending (again, not even High Tension, or the famed Sixth Sense). Indeed, near the climax of Saw 2 was the first time I've ever made an incoherent noise in the theater out of my utter speechlessness.
I can't say the movie is flawless, as I said the characters are rather undeveloped, the traps will seem unnecessarily brutal for many, the entire setup will seem over-the-top for those who somehow thought Saw was more "grounded", and the twists may be too intricate for many people to pay attention to (the internet is alight with discussions on this).
For any fan of thrillers, horror, and those with strong constitutions, I say go see it. You won't be disappointed.