THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Saw shocked the world by being an intelligent yet gory film when first released. After being a box office success, a sequel sounded inevitable and surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait too long.
PLOT
Saw II takes place in a distant time period from the first film. It follows Detective Eric Matthews who is now investigating the Jigsaw killer after his informant became another victim. When checking out the death trap, he notices that it was made from an abandoned facility ‘Wilson Steel’. When searching the place the next day, they find the mastermind himself, John Kramer, who is still battling cancer. In his hideout, there are monitors that show people trapped in a house full of traps. There are six unknown people held captive: Xavier (Franky G), Jonas (Glenn Plummer), Gus (Tony Nappo), Laura (Beverley Mitchell), Obi (Timothy Burd) and Addison (Emmanuelle Vaugier). The only recognizable people are Matthews’ son Daniel (Erik Knudsen) and the only Jigsaw survivor Amanda Young. As all are trapped, they get exposed to a deadly nerve agent and have only two hours to find the antidotes for each of them. Eric wants to save them but Kramer convinces him to stay, promising that the hostages will be safe if he chooses to talk to him for the entire two hours. The other reason he agrees to do it is because it’ll give time for the video feed to be tracked. As we focus on the hostages, they find a key but also a message that insists them not to enter one room. When Gus doesn't listen, he gets shot in the face when doing so. When all head to the basement, another tape reveals that Obi was involved with abducting the others. This discovery leads to him being pressured by Xavier to crawl into a furnace where two more antidotes. However, he inadvertently activates it and is burned alive in the process. The remaining survivors head to another room upstairs. They find another tape saying that a key to another room containing an antidote is in a pit full of syringes. Xavier throws Amanda in but despite her success at retrieving it, they couldn't open the door in time. Xavier leaves the group in a fit of rage, hoping to find success elsewhere. When he travels around the house, he finds a number marked on Gus' neck. When their first hint was said that the combination would be 'in the back of their minds', it meant that each number for the code would be on each hostage. Desperate to figure out the code, he kills Jonas in a fight. When Laura succumbs to the nerve agent, Amanda and Daniel split with Addison. Addison does find an antidote in a glass box from another room. When she sticks her arms inside to reach for it, they get trapped by razor blade sockets. Every time she attempted to pull it out, she cuts herself unintentionally. As she dies from her wounds, Xavier reads her number. Amanda and Daniel return to the first room, they find a tunnel that takes them to the sam dilapidated bathroom from the first film. Xavier chases them to the said area to get their numbers, but Amanda tricks him to cut his own skin for his own number. After he does that, Daniel gets the upper hand by cutting his throat with a hacksaw, after staging a collapse. Back at Wilson Steel, Eric's conversation with Jigsaw does almost reach the runtime. Kramer reveals that he found a new appreciation in life after a suicide attempt. His goal is to inspire others with the same appreciation with the time he has left. He also admits that while the hostages in the house are all ungrateful, they're also people that Eric framed for crimes they didn't commit. This does worry Eric because he is certain of a negative reaction from either if they find out Daniel is his son. He forces him to take him to the house, with the condition that they only they go. As that happens, the tech team are tricked and backup is lead to another house. This means that they've been watching a recording of the game the whole time. When the time expires at Wilson Steel, a safe opens and shows the surviving Daniel inside. As Eric is unaware of this upon arrival, he gets concussed by a pig masked figure. When waking up, his ankle is shackled to a pipe. He finds a tape of his own revealing Amanda to be Kramer's accomplice, was playing a victim in the new game and will continue to be the new Jigsaw when her mentor is gone. The film ends as Amanda closes the door on him, and Kramer smiling due to the success of his plan.
THOUGHTS
When you do a sequel to an acclaimed horror film, you got to live up to the hype. Thankfully, this is one that indeed does that. Director Darren Lynn Bousman and co writer Leigh Whannell pull off making something that does its best to raise the bar on shock factor. With a new setting and more brutal death traps, there was definitely good direction being made and it is a bummer that the following sequels don't exactly become as equivalent as this. The needle pit was the scariest part for me because now, I can't stop thinking about it whenever I get a flu shot. Thanks to a stellar performance of Tobin Bell's John Kramer, the theme of appreciating life is strong. With the extended screen time, we see him as someone who wants to be diligent with his goal. But the truth is, his dissatisfaction with the world broke him to the point of becoming psychotic. Since he is an intelligent engineer, he is definitely one of the most dangerous figures you'll ever see. The biggest surprise of this movie is how he gains an influence on others. For the returning Shawnee Smith, she portrays Amanda as a troubled soul who seeked guidance from the wrong person. This decision made her more unstable than she was already was. Since she planned to be the new Jigsaw, there was no telling how much blood she will shed until later entries proved otherwise. The only new character that interested me here was Eric Matthews. This is the most conflicting person in the franchise because while he can be a focused detective, his temper gets the better of him, which is well performed by Donnie Wahlberg. We want him to save his son but deep down, we want him to pay for his crimes he committed out of egoism. So when the door closed on him, you'll be impressed on the last laugh being on him but wished he got to see his son one more time. I may claim that this is the best sequel, but this does not mean that it does not have any problems. First off, why didn’t group of Swat officers wait for a specialist to check out the booby trapped house? Did they not know what happened to Detective Sing in the first film? If they don’t know at all, than that is really weird. It’s even more weird how the Wilson Steel warehouse wasn’t secure before Eric left with Kramer. If it had already had been done, he would’ve not left and would’ve reunited with his son, avoiding being left for dead. Also, I know the hostages David is stuck with act really stupid and that’s the point. But they are at a level of stupid that is too far. They are so irresponsible with their decisions that you just say ‘Screw it, they deserve it’, which becomes a problem for the following sequels too. Seriously, no one even considers second thoughts with opening the first door. Xavier doesn’t even think about the door not opening before using the bat. He should know it won’t open until the timer goes off. He has a flashlight and doesn’t think about scoping the incinerator. Had he done that, he would’ve taken the antidote from Obi. And Addison doesn’t think it through at all when seeing the glass box. She has seen people die from other traps and doesn’t wonder if this could be another. If you Star Lord was dumb in Infinity War, the victims here are at the pinnacle of making stupid decisions on film. Despite all said problems, I still think this film holds up well. In short, Saw II is the better sequel of the respected franchise because it is truly at its most creative. If you were in awe of the first film, this one will impress you as well.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Comentarios