A Nutshell Review: Saw II

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2005)

I'm such a fan of the original - I like blood and gore, and Saw had one of the more intriguing and sick stories around, which saw the introduction of an original villain in recent memory, Jigsaw. What worked in the first film was the strange premise of 2 seemingly unrelated characters being put in a life and death situation, forced to compromise or die together. Also, the twist at the end was oh-so-nicely done, that it just begs for a sequel to be made.
But I was initially skeptical at how a sequel could top the original Saw. Sure, Jigsaw returns, but are we expecting more of his sick games to beef up the sequel, leading it predictably to more of the same? Surprisingly, it doesn't. Now, you have a group of 8 persons stuck in an unknown booby-trapped building in which they have to escape from. Needless to say, Jigsaw has the entire plan rigged right from the beginning, except that the audience and the players don't know how, or why. It's reasonable to say that you'll be expecting characters to die one-by-one, in bloody manner (so promised the tagline) befitting the original.
While Jigsaw was mostly heard and not seen in the first movie, here, he's seen and heard in full glory. Donnie Wahlberg plays detective Eric Matthews, who leads his partner Kerry (Dina Meyer) and a group of SWAT to take down Jigsaw. Playing a psychological game with Eric, Jigsaw taunts him while explaining to the audience a little bit of his own background, which tied to elements from Saw.
Fans of the original will squeal with delight when these tiebacks, settings and even a character make an appearance in the sequel. It links the two movies together very nicely, and I wonder why the local distributors didn't have a back to back screening this time, like what they did for Kill Bill.
Alas, the version shown here, despite its NC-16 rating, is a watered down version. Obtaining a decent box office returns would have ruled out the M18 or R21 cut. However, don't let this minor nitty gritty spoil your fun.
At times, this movie hums along and you find predictable elements (at least I thought it was under threat of becoming a so-so mediocre sequel), but the last 10 minutes will leave you at the edge of your seat, and deliver when you least expected it, applying a signature that says "Yes, this is a Saw movie". Another sequel, if there is any, will be in my list of must-watch.