I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
Of course, my expectations were low for a horror sequel to a film
that was mostly hit or miss. While, I mostly enjoyed the first one,
it wasn't great, and additional viewings only made me like it less.
So we head to the sequel ready for some intense Saw motifs, but also
with the belief that this will be a major letdown.
First off, the premise is pretty much the same for the franchise. A
serial killer puts people into situations where they must decide how
much they value their life, and if they're willing to give up
something they love to live that life. This time, we hear more from
Jigsaw, the killer, and his point of view. We also get more victims
together, all with something in common, and all with their own
motives and secrets. So, in the end there's more blood, and more bad
acting, and in a horror film, that's not all bad, right?
Unfortunately, the suspense is minimal as we fly into the
contraptions, and they're set up so we know what's in store and are
not surprised by any of the victim scenes (other than the gun in the
door, which was shown in the previews, so we knew about that one
too!).
The best aspect about this one has to be the fact that the police
"catch" Jigsaw very early on, but must abide by his rules to save
the victims, mostly the detective's son. We get a nice hero-villain
banter and cat and mouse. Also, we've got a bit of a family dynamic.
As in the first, the editing is sketchy, and the acting weak. The
suspense is less, or I'm more use to it now, but the story, IMO, was
stronger, thus allowing the viewers to take a more active role in
the activities. Further, the ending was pretty good, when we see
everything come to a head. Not a wonderful horror film, but a solid
continuation of the Saw series, which is a nice up-and-comer in the
horror genre. I haven't been turned off the series yet... 6/10 |
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