Saw II (2005)
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
The chilling and relentless Jigsaw killer returns to terrorize the city once again. When a gruesome murder victim emerges with unmistakable traces of Jigsaw's sinister methods, Detective Eric Matthews is thrust into a high-stakes investigation. To his surprise, apprehending Jigsaw seems almost too easy, but what he doesn't realize is that being caught is merely another piece of Jigsaw's intricate puzzle.
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"Saw II" continues to lift ideas, from films like "Speed" to "The Silence of the Lambs" (again), but the premise of the second is hackneyed, its acting weak, its score thudding and its direction and production values low rent.
The best parts of the movie involve Williams and Tobin Bell's Jigsaw having conversations and playing mind games, which are as strong as the scenes between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in "The Silence of the Lambs."
Besides the troubled Daniel, Jigsaw's got Xavier (Franky G, "The Italian Job"), a threatening type who just wants to punch his way out of the place no matter who he has to punch through to do it, and his counterpart Jonas (Glenn Plummer, "Showgirls," "The Day After Tomorrow"), the thoughtful type who wants to sift through the clues and formulate a plan.
Jigsaw's grand plan involves sticking eight people in a cavernous, dilapidated old house and having them kill, scream, and reason their way out of his booby traps as if this were a hard-edged sequel to The Goonies.
Unfortunately in the hands of the wrong people, “Saw II” and its ilk could be really, really bad.
In one key way, Saw II is actually a bit original, then: it clocks in at a lean 10 minutes shorter than its predecessor.
First-time feature director Darren Lynn Bousman (taking over for James Wan, now an executive producer) grabs the audience immediately by the lapels, opening with a twisted Buñuelian variation on one of the "tests" from the original "Saw."
When another Jigsaw victim is identified, Jigsaw expert Kerry (Dina Meyer, "Star Trek: Nemesis," "Saw") points out something additionally disturbing about the crime scene - a personal message to Detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg, "The Sixth Sense," "Dreamcatcher") that advises him to 'look closer.'
Music video veteran Darren Lynn Bousman co-wrote the script for "Saw II" with Leigh Whannell (screenwriter and actor for "Saw") and gets a more consistent level of performance from the actors than director James Wan achieved on the first movie.
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When another Jigsaw victim is identified, Jigsaw expert Kerry (Dina Meyer, "Star Trek: Nemesis," "Saw") points out something additionally disturbing about the crime scene - a personal message to Detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg, "The Sixth Sense," "Dreamcatcher") that advises him to 'look closer.'
A group of eight strangers attempt to escape from a sealed house ingeniously booby-trapped by serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) while Detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg – "The Sixth Sense") attempts to rescue his teen son Daniel (Eirk Knudsen) from among the trapped victims.