Film Review: Saw II (2005)

Saw II was not originally intended to be in the Saw series at all. The plot of seven strangers waking up in an abandoned house filled with traps and slow acting poisonous gas was an original screenplay from Darren Lynn Bousman. The studio purchased the screenplay before the release of Saw, and decided Saw needed a sequel for Halloween. So, Darren Lynn Bousman worked with series co-creator Leigh Whannel to adapt the script into the Saw series.

This was accomplished by bringing back as many living characters as possible from the original film. Donnie Wahlberg, Dina Meyer, Tobin Bell, and Shawnee Smith all reprise their roles from Saw to great effect. The layout of Jigsaw's work room and the police station were brought back as well. Toss in the almost iconic silver micro-tape player and victim back stories and you have a new Saw film.

Saw II is both a success and a failure. Soon to be series director Darren Lynn Bousman does an excellent job recreating the look of the original Saw without becoming repetitive or cliche. The screenplay features far stronger dialogue than the original and the plot twists all hold up and build on the original. And, what would soon become a series trademark, Saw II provides additional information concerning what happened in Saw without making the original seem useless.

Unfortunately, there are some severe problems in the film. Shawnee Smith, in a much expanded role as a repeat victim of Jigsaw's game, gives a very inconsistent performance. While the characters on screen only question her actions in the very beginning, any alert viewer might see her every move as very suspicious. Bousman does his best to cover up any potential gaps in storytelling caused by this, but it does take away from Saw II. Furthermore, while the plot twists do technically work out, they are far more of a stretch than the original film. The characters don't seem as realistic when forced to act in extremely irrational ways. This is especially prevalent among the law enforcement officers in the film, who seem more intent on playing bad cop than doing a good job.

Saw II is certainly worth watching. Tobin Bell, as Jigsaw, is finally given a chance to show off his acting chops, resulting in a truly haunting performance. The traps, though they show far more gore on screen than the original, are still subtly ironic and fitting to the intending victim. And the conclusion is very, very disturbing. While this may be the weak point of the series, Saw II is still a solid horror film in the end.