Absolutely brilliant--can't remember the last time a sequel was this great!

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2007)

To be completely honest, I had VERY low expectations for Saw 2. I had watched the first film, and LOVED it. I loved how James Wan and Leigh Whannell were able to create such a creepy film with such a simple set. I loved the brilliant psychological warfare between two individuals who start out calm but grow angry with each other soon after. I loved the flashback sequences. Truth be told, I loved everything about it, and I was upset to then learn of three sequels (and probably a fourth) to such a classic horror film.
But anyway, since I had loved the first so much, one day I found myself at Blockbuster and decided to give the sequel a chance. I had nothing else to do. I could barely speak after watching it. I had just walked out of my home theater room with the memory of one of the best and most well-made sequels I've ever had the pleasure of watching.
"Saw 2," quite simply, is basically the first film on steroids. From the very first scene (which, by the way, was so revolting I had to set my giant movie theater butter popcorn bowl on the table next to me) Saw 2 will take your hands and lead you into a world of nightmare that you can't escape from until the end credits arrive on your screen 90 minutes later.
The story is simple to follow yet complex to dive into. Jigsaw locks eight people in a house full of traps, and they have two hours to find a way out before a lethal nerve gas flowing through the house kills them like the EBOLA virus. Meanwhile, Detective Matthews, a cop, apprehends Jigsaw with a team. And, it just so happens, one of the eight trapped in that house is Eric Matthews' son.
Saw 2 has everything the first film had and beyond. The gore is up there as a 9 or 10 on the gore scale, while I'd give the first film maybe a 7. Remember the psychological warfare that ensued between Adam and Lawrence in the first film? Well, it's magnified 100x in "Saw 2," between Jigsaw and Detective Matthews, and the eight unlucky individuals trapped inside the house. The acting is incredibly top-rate and soars past the first film in acting talent. Everyone in the cast does a GREAT job and makes the film seem that much more realistic. The direction and editing is superb (better than the first) and we now seriously know Leigh Whannell can seriously write a damn good movie, even though the screenplay for the first film was better. Apart from that, the only complaints I could have for "Saw 2" is that it isn't as creative or inventive as the first was, but who says it has to be? It's a sequel--it is merely carrying on the story where the first left off. The second complaint would be that it isn't scary...at all. It's just a brilliant suspense film that will have you cringe in disgust at the deliciously cleverly twisted film before your eyes. And for me, that's enough.
The twist at the end is also one of the biggest shockers I've ever witnessed watching a film. You think the one at the end of "Saw 1" is big? You ain't seen nothing yet. And go ahead--keep trying to guess the ending throughout watching "Saw 2." I guarantee you it'll go in the exact opposite direction of what you're thinking of.
Overall--do what your love for the first film tells you to do. See "Saw 2," disregard your thoughts of how a sequel could never be as great as the first, sit down, and put this movie on. You won't be disappointed! My only worry now is the third film possibly living up to the caliber of the first two. Leigh Whannell and James Wan prove that "Saw" is not one horror film saga for recent years, it's one for the century.