Saw II
Grade: C-
Year: 2005
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Writers: Darren Lynn Bousman & Leigh Whannell
Genre: Horror
Rated: R
By Scott Spicciati
A SAW WITH NO TEETH
The tagline to Darren Lynn Bousman's "Saw II" reads "Oh, yes. There will be blood. " And yes, there is blood, because what would a movie called "Saw" be without blood? Well, even with it it's not so hot.
The sequel follows the highly successful original movie that written by Leigh Whannell and pal James Wan. To say the least it had an interesting concept: two guys woke up in a nasty shower room and had to literally saw through each other to advance in the game. It was a solid thriller until its ultimately disappointing unraveling climax.
But "Saw II" has no climax nor interesting concept to start from. Throw in a bunch of unsuspecting victims, a few ways for them to die, and a giggling clown for no apparent reason and you've got your film.
Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) returns as the sadistic cancer patient who must kidnap victims and torture them dearly because they obviously don't "value" their lives and he's about to lose his from cancer. The first victim wakes up to finding a medieval death mask attached to his face and can only unlock it by retrieving a key that's been surgically set behind his eyeball. Surely if he cares about living so much he would have no problem carving out his eye with a rusty blade. That's not asking too much, is it?
The new set of victims in this film (none survived the first - well, one did, and you'll laugh when you find out how she plays into the whole thing) wake up in an undisclosed house and have been breathing in a lethal gas that will kill them unless they find the antidote hidden somewhere inside the facility. The time limit is two hours but the group wastes most of its time fighting and backstabbing each other. Wow, none of these guys value their life too much. Maybe they all deserve to die after all.
Because Jigsaw is apprehended by the police as quickly as the film starts, the impending danger of the first film is completely absent here (remember the clown on his bicycle?). The only danger is the stupidity of the victims and what actions they take while in the house. One of the trapped victims is the very son of Agent Mason (Donnie Wahlberg), the cop who finds Jigsaw in a dark warehouse that is equipped with more computer monitors than Circuit City.
Uninterested in how Jigsaw acquired the funds and resources (nerve gas?) to conduct his games, Mason has precious little time to solve the case. Until they are able to find where the house is, the agents are forced to observe the action on the computer monitors that provide live feeds from the site.
A growingly impatient Detective Mason routinely questions the ailing Jigsaw who is no more straightforward than Hannibal Lecter. Furthermore it appears Jigsaw has Mason playing a little game of his own.
The film tries to be too clever for its own good. I do however like where the film ends, but my compliments end there.
