Too short?

Rating: 5/10 (10 November 2005)

I was not particularly excited about the first "Saw" when it came out, when I heard an idea of the plot, etc. On a recommendation from a friend, I borrowed it on DVD and was happy to have enjoyed the movie thoroughly.
That being said, I was anticipating the release of "Saw II". I was disappointed. The creativity and complexity of the first movie was gone and replaced with formulaic good-looking people. Not that the acting was stellar in the first movie, but the characters were as believable as the story allowed them to be. "Saw II" contained very static characters with a weak string tying them together. If the characters themselves weren't flimsy enough, they were put through a plot line that did not require so many victims, making it confusing. I had no idea what most of the main characters names were, only grazing the surface as to why they were put under the circumstances that they found themselves in.
Overall, a huge, involved plot was set, then managed to resolve only a few of the problems, while at the same time staging a virtual segue into more sequels. The film either should have spent another half hour finishing off the characters (which I hope will be the extended Director's cut DVD when it gets that far) or cut several of them completely from the script. The first movie was intriguing and complete, while this sequel tried too hard to be complex, and that left it feeling a little over-produced. Disappointing.