Surprisingly good sequel (Saw II (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Saw II (DVD)
Date:	16/09/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Twisty and violent

Disadvantages: Will do little for the uninitiated

note: also appears on The Student Room and Flixster in part

The first Saw film was an absolute sensation when it was released - it featured a gritty plot with a twist that nobody saw coming, spawning a number of sequels, with the sixth film being released next month. Saw II is the best sequel - a solid, blood-soaked odyssey before the series got too complacent with churning out the same old tosh every year.

The film continues where the first film left off, with Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) capturing people to teach them life lessons and see if they're worthy of the life that they've been given. In this film, he has placed a number of people in a derelict house, and they have all been poisoned with a noxious agent that will kill them in about three hours. They have until then to complete the various traps around the house and escape. Meanwhile, this runs parallel with the police holding Jigsaw prisoner after they found him, and Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) soon enough discovers that his own son, Daniel, is captured in the house.

As a sequel, this fares pretty well - it has some great kills, and some pretty shocking moments overall. It also has two very effective twists that you'll probably not see coming - it was a time before the Saw writers felt that there had to be an arbitrary twist, but actually came up with something very clever and devious anyway. This is how you make a sequel, and whilst the third one was also pretty good, they went down the pan after that.

Not quite as engrossing as the original, but this film still managed to deliver twists that knocked me for six and thus, they succeeded where most sequels fail in living up to the original.

Summary: A great sequel