Better than the Original!

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2005)

Following the line of gruesome death scenes, surprising plot twists and creepy clowns, Saw II directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Bousman and Leigh Whannel (he played Adam in Saw) will definitely make you jump out of your seat.
The Jigsaw Killer is at it again. The movie begins with an unknowing victim trapped in a room and subject to self mutilation in order to save his life. This crime scene draws the attention of Detective Eric Matthews, played by New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg.
In the events that follow, a group of seven extremely unlucky individuals find themselves playing one of Jigsaw's twisted games while trying to find an anecdote for the lethal poison seeping through their veins and a way out of the booby trapped house.
Saw II immediately grabs your attention and keeps it for the entire 90 minutes of blood, gore and death.
Everything in this movie fits perfectly - from the camera shots, to the actors, and all the plots. Saw II is creatively mastered from every angle.
The sequel also takes time to make a connection back to the original movie to clarify the relationship between Jigsaw and his first set of victims. Jigsaw's motives and philosophy of his work is also revealed in Saw II.
At first it's hard to decide which movie is better Saw or Saw II, but in the end I would have to vote for the sequel  shocking isn't it! In the original, Dr. Lawrence, played by Cary Elwes was not a good actor and somewhat took away from the movie. In addition, the single room scene became somewhat stagnant.
On the other hand, in the sequel, all the characters were well cast and the continuous motion only added to the suspense.
Overall, Saw II receives three and a half out of four stars. Scary movies just don't get any better than this. I truly hope they make this set into a trilogy.