Oh yes...there will be blood

Hello I am the movie encyclopedia and if no one else will see it, I will.

As you may (or may not) have read I really enjoy the first Saw film and consider it in my top 20 films of all time. Well suffice to say Saw gained a large cult following wanting to know what happens next so Leigh Whannel and James Wan along with new director Darren Lynn Bousman created Saw 2, the sequel to the classic.

A lot of people give Saw 2 grief because it relys more on traps and death and less on the pyschological terror from the first one. They also call Saw 2 the death of the series saying it and all other sequels would be horrible. Now while I agree that none of the other Saw films could top the first one, Saw 2 does a pretty good job considering the burden it had to carry being the second film.

Saw 2 takes place a short time after the original movie (not too long maybe a day or two) and focuses more on the exploits of Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and his son Daniel who is trapped in a house with a bunch of criminals...and Amanda from the first movie. Matthews is an angry man, still getting over his divorce and raising one kid. He has been called corrupt numerous times but deep down he is a good person. After piecing together some clues, Matthews, Kerry (a pyschologist) and Rigg (head of SWAT) head to an abandoned warehouse where they find and capture Jigsaw. He says he wants to talk to Matthews and shows him that his son and some other people are trapped in a house with poison gas.

That is the setup for the two main set pieces: the dialogue between Matthews and Jigsaw while the cops try to find out where the people are and the people in the house.

Yes its gory, yes its brutal, yes it isnt as good or low key as the original. But it is a faithful sequel made for the fans and wasnt made to please anyone else. Although the ending is a huge shock like the first, it does leave the fan going "okay the third one should and will pick up here." Its like Saw 2-now is one big movie cut into pieces. So if you can deal with the really trilogy (which is a joke now) ending, then you would like this movie. Dont judge this movie by its cover. Its better than you think.

MY VERDICT: OWN IT