2008 Woodie Awards
Saw II Less Mystery, More Mayhem
Allison Walker
Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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A man forced to gouge out his own eyeball with a straight razor because there is a key behind the eyeball that opens the steel Venus flytrap fitted to his head, which is about to shut-I should have known to leave the theater then. The beginning of Saw II was just a glimpse of the gore to follow. If you did not like the original Saw because of its brutality and gruesomeness, its sequel is no exception.
A locked door is scarier than anything that could be hiding behind it, black and white thrillers from the 1940s are scarier than anything in the theaters today, but this doesn't mean I didn't spend half of Saw II with my head staring into my popcorn, which I no longer had the appetite to eat). But not because Saw II is a horror movie, it is more of a new breed or genre. Perhaps torture flicks or sick fantasies. I would generalize by calling it a shocker, but applying it to Saw II is a problem because shock implies you feel something more than revulsion.
Saw II is less mystery and more mayhem. It brings back the Jigsaw Killer, a man who doesn't think karma is fast enough, but most of the other characters are new-and not around long enough to make viewers care about them. Since the audience already knows Jigsaw, or John (Tobin Bell), what remains is the assortment of puzzles he has put together to send people to their deaths.
Detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg) has had his fill of chasing Jigsaw. But when his teenage son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen), is caught in Jigsaw's trap, burned-out Eric gets back in the game. Eric quickly finds Jigsaw in his lair. The trick is to figure out the location of the building in which Jigsaw has trapped eight people, including Daniel, with only two hours left before a deadly gas will end their lives.
Eric and his colleagues watch on video monitors as Daniel, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), Xavier (Franky G), Jonas (Glenn Plummer), Laura (Beverley Mitchell) and the others regain consciousness and try to comprehend their predicament.
A locked door is scarier than anything that could be hiding behind it, black and white thrillers from the 1940s are scarier than anything in the theaters today, but this doesn't mean I didn't spend half of Saw II with my head staring into my popcorn, which I no longer had the appetite to eat). But not because Saw II is a horror movie, it is more of a new breed or genre. Perhaps torture flicks or sick fantasies. I would generalize by calling it a shocker, but applying it to Saw II is a problem because shock implies you feel something more than revulsion.
Saw II is less mystery and more mayhem. It brings back the Jigsaw Killer, a man who doesn't think karma is fast enough, but most of the other characters are new-and not around long enough to make viewers care about them. Since the audience already knows Jigsaw, or John (Tobin Bell), what remains is the assortment of puzzles he has put together to send people to their deaths.
Detective Eric Mason (Donnie Wahlberg) has had his fill of chasing Jigsaw. But when his teenage son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen), is caught in Jigsaw's trap, burned-out Eric gets back in the game. Eric quickly finds Jigsaw in his lair. The trick is to figure out the location of the building in which Jigsaw has trapped eight people, including Daniel, with only two hours left before a deadly gas will end their lives.
Eric and his colleagues watch on video monitors as Daniel, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), Xavier (Franky G), Jonas (Glenn Plummer), Laura (Beverley Mitchell) and the others regain consciousness and try to comprehend their predicament.