Movie Review: Saw II - Page 2

Most of the interesting stuff happens in the house, at least in terms of the gore. The house is rigged with a variety of traps with which to torment its guests. Needles, razor trapped boxes, a pistol, a whole variety of ways to make our inmates suffer.

The acting is about average for this sort of exercise. They aren't really given much to do outside of screaming in horror and yelling at each other. Donnie Wahlberg does a decent job of portraying our tormented detective, while Tobin Bell is suitably creepy as Jigsaw. Over at the house we have Franky G as our increasingly manic houseguest, and Shawnee Smith as Amanda, a survivor of the first film.

The plot has enough turns in it to keep it from getting dull. I especially like the ways the first film was tied into this one. There is even a setup allowing for a third in the franchise.

I must take a moment to speak on something that bugged me, but doesn't matter much in the big picture. In movies like these, the killer tends to have a certain MO that they work by. That plan would expand as the film went on or stay along the same lines. In the Saw films, there are one-offs, like the death mask, and there are the group games, like the house trap. Now why would he change his methods, seemingly at random? It's not really a big deal, but it just stuck in my head. What is it about his work that would determine if the victim is worthy of being tested alone, or in a group?

Darren Lynn Bousman directed and co-wrote the feature, making his big screen debut. It is a decent start. Some of the scenes appear to be abruptly cut and distracting, but given a shot at a non-sequel, he may be able to develop a style of his own. Leigh Whannell was the other writer; he also wrote and co-starred in the original.

Bottomline. Not up to the level of the original, but it does deliver the bloody goods. I only wish that one day we will get a theatrically released slasher type film that also has a story. Decent performances and copious amounts of inventive deaths spur this one to a watchable conclusion.

Recommended.

CORRECTIONS:LM

Article Author: Chris Beaumont

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about music and movies when he isn't indulging in them. He is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Follow: Twitter and Tumblr. Visit: Critical Outcast. …

Visit Chris Beaumont's author page — Chris Beaumont's Blog