The Screamstress - Horror & Paranormal

Review: Saw 2

by Rhys on November 1st, 2005

Same Old Saw

I put off writing this review for a week because I’m not going to enjoy doing it.

To sum it up: for me, the original Saw was a minor disappointment. Saw 2 was a major disappointment.

I wanted to like this movie. I wanted to LOVE this movie. I had such high hopes that the filmmakers would capitalize on the strengths of the first film and eliminate the weaknesses. Unfortunately, they did exactly the opposite.

You know when you’d bring home your report card, and the teacher wrote ‘Not living up to potential’ on it and your mom would get pissed? Now I understand. (Sorry, Mom.)

Oh, the potential this film had! First of all, it’s a brilliant premise: a killer using ingenious techniques to trap victims into appreciating life, whether they want to or not. And it hit upon horror’s most crucial element: forcing ordinary people into a monstrous situation, and requiring them to turn into monsters themselves if they want any chance of escape. Too bad Saw II forgot about this.

I felt that the original Saw did not use nearly enough of its best element: the traps. The two guys in a room idea was fine, but the most thrilling parts of the film took place outside the room, when we saw the people in Jigsaw’s traps. More contraptions, please! And the ‘twist’ ending…blah. It was okay, but when there is a ‘twist’ like that, it tends to make the film all about that twist, and thus devalues the entire story behind it.

Saw 2 almost ignores the brilliant contraptions (honestly, I feel there was only one true Jigsaw masterpiece, during the first two minutes of the film.) I’d much rather see Jigsaw as a serial killer, rather than someone who lumps all his victims together.

So, eight strangers in a house, including the bratty kid of a world-weary Donnie Wahlberg, a cop who lets the job get to him and thus is estranged from his wife and kid. (Is there any other kind? I mean, seriously, there must be at least one happily married cop out there.)

The characters are bland and/or annoying. The only character I felt any sympathy for was the adorable Beverly Mitchell, who manages to bring a true note of fear into her acting.

And, man oh man, are these people DUMB. The contraptions were lame enough that anyone with an IQ above 12 could have escaped them, but not these buffoons. For instance: there’s a loooong oven, and something you want is in the back. Would you: 1. crawl five feet into the back of the loooong oven to retrieve it, or 2. simply go behind the oven, smash in the back window, and pull it out? Yeah, me too. Guess which one these idiots chose?

Which brings me to another weakness of the film: in order for Jigsaw’s scheme to work, the victims would have to choose the stupidest solution each and every time. If they had shown one iota of common sense or intelligence, they could have easily escaped. There was no way Jigsaw could ensure they’d choose wrong every time, so his plan was seriously flawed.

And damn it, where was the red stuff? If you’re going to take out every bit of character development and suspense, there’s better be some gore in there to entertain me. But no, the camera cuts away every time.

And the ending, the horrible ending. Unable to resist another ‘twist’ the filmmakers committed the ultimate sin: they lied to the viewer. You cannot do that. You must be fair in giving the viewer a chance to figure it out (a la the Sixth Sense.) And even worse, once the ‘twist’ is revealed, it COMPLETELY negates every bit of suspense and believablility the story could have contained; turning it into a completely pointless exercise for both the characters and the viewers.

There’s so much more wrong with the film. But I’ve wasted enough time. I think I’m going to go watch my Nightmare On Elm Street DVD now.

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