Saw II



Plot Synopsis:

Detective Eric Matthews is forced into a twisted game by the Jigsaw Killer. Meanwhile, Matthews' son Daniel is forced to play a game of his own when he wakes up in a house with a group of strangers, who must all work to find an antidote for poison they are breathing in. 

Positives:

One area where I think this movie legitimately improves on its predecessor is in the acting. Ok, nobody's winning an Oscar, but it's a lot better in this movie. Perhaps this movie's biggest positive is the fact that we now have Jigsaw front and center. It helps that Tobin Bell is pretty consistently the best part of the Saw movies. I also like that this movie actually goes into Jigsaw's backstory. We actually have a look into why he is the way he is. I also think the movie's main twist is pretty damn good as well. I didn't really think about it before. But, watching it again, it is interesting to see just how well it was hinted at throughout the movie. There are other twists in the movie. They are all good in my opinion, and legitimately well-balanced. No matter what, I always love it when the theme kicks in. The way it's utilized feels almost like a punctuation on each of these movies. My final positive is the movie's pacing. Saw II is 90 minutes and goes by legitimately smoothly.  

Mixed Aspects: 

I am of two minds on the whole "Jigsaw's not a serial killer" aspect of this film (and franchise as a whole). Again, I appreciate that this movie goes into explaining why he has his beliefs. However, I still don't buy into the argument. I will also say that this movie does introduce an aspect to this plot point that I did find interesting. I won't give it away because it ties into the film's twist. I also think the editing is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes, I think it's pretty damn good. Other times, I look back and see it as a bit dated.  

Negatives: 

My main negatives are aspects are pretty minor overall. First off, this movie has its share of plot conveniences. There's also some stupid character decisions made in this movie that could have easily been avoided. I should note that these problems are not as egregious in this movie as they are in some of the later Saw movies. 

My Rating: 

🩸🩸🩸🩸


Comments

  1. BeckyMay 20, 2021 at 4:36 PM

    I actually rea.lly enjoyed this one as well. I thought it was a fun, well-paced popcorn horror with a couple of delightful twists. This is the last one that I genuinely fully enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete

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