Like its dark predecessor, Saw II was dirty, suspenseful and sadistic yet, it left something to be desired. A plot. Detective Eric Mason, a tightly wound nicotine addict, is hand picked by the Jigsaw Killer because of a crooked career of false imprisonment and being a jerk. When Mason meets face to face with the Jigsaw Killer, he quickly finds out about his son’s imminent death and thus begins the game.
While the movie begins well enough, it quickly falls apart. Seven “subjects” (including Mason’s son) are kidnapped and left to die inside of a booby-trapped house. Breathing in a toxic nerve gas, the “subjects” are poisoned.
They are then told that the anecdote is to be found within the house. During this ordeal, the Jigsaw Killer gives a constant reminder to play by the rules, to beat his game: the method to his mayhem. Sadly, the solution never comes to anyone.
What worked best with the first Saw was that the threat of instant death was in your face. The Jigsaw killer’s deadly inventions were so horrifying it kept the audience in constant suspense.
In awe, you watched the characters die a gruesome death or even more gruesome, fight to live. Besides the opening scene, there are not nearly enough deadly contraptions in Saw 2. Unfortunately for this sequel, a deadly gas does not pack the same punch as a Venus flytrap death mask. You know time is running out but aside from some bloody phlegm, nothing.
Amidst this, what little plot I had grasped was lost. I found myself asking one question over and over “Who are these people?” There was little effort on behalf of the directors to familiarize the audience with any of the characters.
However, in my reflection, this made sense. Creating personalities for characters, who simply are sacrificed for the grotesque display of brutal death is just a waste of time and film.
Now, the movie is not with out its perks. It has blood and people being bludgeoned. Fight scenes and attractive people. A life changing epiphany that everyone should take home, a chase sequence and a killer ending that almost redeems the movie. Almost.
Like the Sixth Sense, Saw 2 is a loose movie with a tight end. Who would I recommend this film to? Nobody. If I had to, I would recommend Saw 2 to hard-core horror fans. This movie will make you cringe, flinch and tense up.
Grade D
Contact Fallon Frost-Johnson at famuanlifestyles@hotmail.com