Let’s state the obvious. The Saw movies didn’t become the Saw Movies until Saw II. That’s not simply because of math. There was a Saw movie, then they made another one, so now there are Saw Movies. Building a franchise may have not been in the original plans, but it happened.
Saw II grabs elements from the original (the spinning camera, the green filters) and multiplies them. Graphic onscreen violence increased. The traps grow more elaborate. Saw II begins living up to the dreadful reputation of the original. If you thought Saw was gross and difficult to watch, then Saw II was designed to blow your mind.
John Kramer (Tobin Bell), better known as Jigsaw, is apprehended by the police in a booby-trapped warehouse. Kramer’s person of interest is arresting officer Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). Matthews is assisted by fellow officers Kerry (Dina Meyer) and Rigg (Lyriq Bent).
Eric Matthews is a real piece of work. A lousy father, intense and ruthless at his job, Matthews is a heartless son of a bitch. That is, until, he realizes that Jigsaw has kidnapped his son and trapped him in a house with a group of strangers. Nerve gas is seeping into the house, and Matthews needs to figure out where his son is before time runs out.
We get to view what’s happening inside the house via a bank of video monitors in Jigsaw’s weird, rusty lair. How these people are connected forms the crux of the plot, as does Matthews’ attempts to obtain information from Jigsaw.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman attacks this story with style. Bousman relies largely on hand-held camera work and gives Saw II a sense of frantic urgency. As Jigsaw’s game plays out, we develop empathy for certain characters while understanding which ones are absolutely off their rockers. There’s an underlying question here, which pops up in future Saw films. Can they co-exist?
As one would expect, bloodshed and wince-inducing traps create most of the horror. It’s hard not to spoil a movie that came out in 2005, but one of the franchise’s most memorable traps is revealed in Saw II. If needles make you squeamish, you’ll want to close your eyes during one part. [That part is about 52 minutes in, by the way.]
The essential mystery of why John Kramer does what he does is addressed, but not completely. He remains an ambiguous, singular character. All of his acts are undertaken with a preternatural calm. Saw II presents him as almost omniscient, a stark contrast to Eric Matthews. Detective Matthews is given to fits of rage and unleashing streams of obscenity. He’s a bully, unsure of what to do when someone refuses to fight back. Kramer, of course, has the upper hand but rarely flaunts that fact. He wants his victims to escape. Their conflict is fascinating to watch. Both Bell and Wahlberg play their parts with different hues of power and force.
Like most Saw movies, there is a point besides watching other people suffer for their past sins and wrestle with the parameters of their own redemption. The lesson of Saw II is simple.
Listen.
Communication is key to any relationship, intimate or antagonistic. In Saw II, the simple act of conversation is vital to solving the mystery. It’s the same in real life. We can learn so much about each other if we would just talk.
Beneath the blood and the dirt, there’s an excellent story written by director Bousman and screenwriter/co-star of the original Saw, Leigh Whannell. Saw II is a worthy sequel that expands the Saw Universe while keeping things lean and tight. It’s a chamber piece, a concerto for tendons and nerve endings. Yet it pulls off the massive feat of setting up a number of sequels, new characters to be caught in Jigsaw’s puzzle, creating the desire in viewers to find out what happens next.
Within the franchise, Saw II is pivotal, creating the basis for the rest of the series, even when it starts to really go off the rails. This is where the tendrils began to snake out into the past and future, interlacing every Saw film to come while roping in the first film. Watching Saw before going into the sequel is a good idea. Astute viewers will want to follow this convoluted story down its dark, twisted path.
A tremendous essay on the power of being civil, Saw II still doles out primal shocks and gut-wrenching sequences. On paper, Saw II might be nothing but a horror sequel, but it is one of the few that may be better than the original.
