SAW II (2005)

Saw II is superior to its predecessor in every way, shape, and form. The acting is better by leaps and bounds, the direction is dead on and helps to deliver the pieces to Saw II's puzzles much more efficiently this time around. This is one of those very rare times in film where the sequel outshines, or in this case, out-murks its predecessor.

Instead of just the two people being locked in a room, Saw II ups the ante to 8 possible victims. This time, that sick bastard Jigsaw has our unlucky victims trying to figure their way out of his booby trapped death-house before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas that will leave them bleeding from every orifice. Cool guy right? The only way they'll get out is by working together to figure out the meanings of Jigsaw's clues. This would be a relatively easy task considering how simple Jigsaw's clues actually are, but remember, we're dealing with human beings here and when you imprison 8 strong personalities in such stressful conditions, there is alway's a good chance they will turn on one another, which is exactly what takes place here.
The whole cast delivers good, believable performances. Tobin Bell is especially effective as the deranged, cancer riddled killer, Jigsaw. Donnie Wahlberg holds his own as Eric Matthews, a worn out cop who has to deal with Jigsaw face to face as his son deals with pending doom in the gas filled house of fun. The movie seamlessly goes back and forth between these 2 settings, and both of them work really well. There are some cool twists that are integrated smoothly into the film. They don't feel like the forced nonsensical twists that movies have been churning out ever since The Sixth Sense showed how much profit could be made from a good one. Some people will be able to guess what happens and some won't, but in either case, most will feel that it's still good storytelling. You'll even get some answers to a few unsolved mysteries from the first Saw.

Co-writer and director Darren Lynn Bousman does an excellent job considering his limited feature experience. Good composition (in conjunction with Saw's original cinematographer David Armstrong), good pace, and a good grimy atmosphere set the stage perfectly for the actors to do their thing. There are some very cool kill scenes and the graphic violence really hits the spot for those who like their entertainment on the brutal side. There were only a couple of moments where some hyper fast cutting got a tad aggravating, but for the most part the film oozes along nicely. Bousman and co-writer Leigh Whannell (who co-scripted and took a staring role as Adam in the first Saw) have produced a script that is more intelligent this time around with better dialogue and much sharper character definition.
The only thing I miss from the first Saw film is Danny Glover losing his mind and getting brutalised by Jigsaw. For me though, everything else in Saw II is way better than the first. It's all over so very quickly too, but never fear, the Hollywood cash machine is here, and there is a 99.9 percent chance you'll be seeing Saw III coming out real soon. This could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing. Saw II however, is definitely a great thing.