Saw II is a 2005 American horror and sequel to the 2004 film Saw. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and also written by him and the original film's co-writer Leigh Whannell. Saw II was released in North America and the United Kingdom on October 28th, and December 1st for Australia. The film (apart from external shots) was filmed in one building over the span of 25 days.
The film features the Jigsaw Killer finally being apprehended, but trapping the arresting officer in one of his own games while showing another "game" of eight people in progress at the same time. It also explores some of the character's back story, providing a partial explanation for why he became "Jigsaw".
Upon release, Saw II received mostly negative reviews from film critics. Some dismissed the film as being a "Se7en knockoff", "lacking style and plot" and some revolting over the "explicit gore and torture scenes". However, others praised it as being a "worthy follow-up" and "providing plenty of what fans of the first expected". Despite negative reviews Saw II currently has the highest gross of the Saw series.
Plot
Michael Marks (Noam Jenkins), a police informant, awakens in a room to find the two halves of a spike-filled helmet locked around his neck. A videotape and X-ray film reveal that the key to the device has been implanted behind his right eye. He finds a scalpel but cannot bring himself to cut out his eyeball, and is killed instantly when the timer runs out and the helmet slams shut around his head. His body is later found by the police, the latest victim of the Jigsaw Killer.
Following an argument with his son Daniel (Erik Knudsen), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to the scene of Michael's death. Using clues that have been specifically left for him at the scene, he is able to pinpoint Jigsaw's lair in an abandoned steel factory. The police raid the building and find John Kramer (Tobin Bell), weakened by cancer. Nearby is a set of computer monitors that show eight people trapped in an abandoned house being filled with deadly sarin gas; among them are Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw's only known survivor, and Daniel. He reveals that the victims have two hours before dying from the nerve agent, but promises that Matthews will see his son in a "safe and secure state" if he can simply talk with the dying man for a while.
In Jigsaw's lair, Matthews talks with John in an attempt to buy time while the video signal is traced. In the house, the captives are trying to secure antidotes to the nerve gas they are breathing. One of them, Gus (Tony Nappo), is shot dead by a booby-trapped door shortly after they begin their search. Obi (Timothy Burd), an accessory to the other victims' kidnappings, is burned alive while attempting to retrieve two antidotes in a furnace. The group then finds a pit filled with thousands of hypodermic syringes, with a key to an antidote hidden within. Xavier (Franky G), the intended victim, throws Amanda into the pit rather than search for the key himself. Amanda retrieves the key, but Xavier fumbles with it and fails to unlock the door to the antidote before its timer runs out.
In his lair, John explains his evolution into what he is today to Matthews, and reveals to him that the seven adults trapped in the house are criminals that Matthews has framed. Should Daniel's identity be discovered, he will be in great danger. Matthews, growing impatient with John's philosophical ramblings, trashes several of his models and plans but fails to move him.
Xavier, having abandoned the others, realizes that one number of the combination to the safe has been written on the back of each of the victims' necks. After killing Jonas (Glenn Plummer) in a fight, he begins stalking the remaining four, who have discovered that Daniel is the son of the adults' arresting officer. Laura (Beverley Mitchell) soon dies from gas exposure, and Addison's (Emmanuelle Vaugier) arms become trapped in a glass box containing razors as she tries to retrieve a measure of the antidote for herself. Xavier reads the number on her neck, then leaves her to die.
Matthews loses control and violently assaults Jigsaw, eventually forcing him to take him to the house at gunpoint. As they depart, the tech team pinpoints the signal, prompting the others to travel to its origin. In the house, Xavier pursues Amanda and Daniel through a hidden basement tunnel, which leads to the bathroom of the first film where Daniel collapses. Amanda remarks that Xavier has no way of learning his own number, whereupon he slices off a piece of skin from the back of his neck to read it. As he walks towards Amanda, Daniel, who has only feigned collapse, slashes Xavier's throat.
Once the SWAT team arrives at the location of the video feed, they find only a bank of VCRs playing back previously recorded images of the eight victims. They realize at this point that the events in the house took place some time before the police raided Jigsaw's lair. Reaching the real house, Matthews finds the already decomposing body of Jonas. He enters the bathroom and is attacked by a figure wearing a pig mask. In Jigsaw's lair, a timer expires and a large safe opens to reveal Daniel inside, hyperventilating into an oxygen mask.
Matthews awakens to find himself chained by the ankle to the bathroom's pipework. An audio tape lying next to him recorded by Amanda reveals that she has become Jigsaw's protégé. Amanda appears in the door and says "Game over," before closing the bathroom door as Matthews screams threats and abuse. Outside the house, a badly beaten Jigsaw slowly forms a smile.
Cast
Reception
Box office
Saw II opened with $31,725,652 and went on to gross $87,039,965 domestically and $87,039,965 worldwide. It is also the highest grossing Saw film to date. [2]
Reviews
Critical reception to Saw II were generally negative. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 35 percent of critics gave the film a positive review, based upon a sample of 113, with an average score of 4.6 out of 10.[3] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 40 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[4] Critics found Jigsaw's diabolic "games" to require a large amount of planning and fortuitous timing in order to succeed, causing some to liken his murderous schemes to Rube Goldberg machines.[5][6][7][8][9] Tobin Bell addressed some of these criticisms by saying, "My sense is that Jigsaw is so detail oriented that I think he thinks in terms of worst case scenario. I think he’s a very good judge of character, so his sense that, for example, that Detective Matthews was going to play right into his trap, which he did, was right on. Now, it seems to me that he’s always got a second plan in place. And there’s probably been a number of second plans. I mean, we’ve only seen three movies. Maybe there are six more somewhere where he failed, where something didn’t play out."[10]
Home media
The DVD was released on February 14, 2006, and an "Unrated Special Edition" DVD was released on October 24, 2006. [11][12]
Unrated Special Edition
In this version, several changes have been made from the theatrical version:[13]
- The opening scene with the "Venus Head Trap" is extended and the song "Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Head Trap Mix)" is playing in the background.
- When the police are entering the Wilson Steel warehouse, three short cuts are shown of Jigsaw upstairs eating a bowl of cereal in front of him, realizing the police have arrived. When he realizes this, he calmly goes back to eating the cereal.
- Jigsaw has a few extra lines of dialogue with Detective Matthews, mentioning that he has "wiped the slate clean", and that most people are merely "sleepwalking".
- When Obi is trapped in the oven, he attempts to break the glass on the far side as he is burning alive.
- The scene of Amanda thrashing around in the syringe pit is extended to the full three minutes as shown on the timer.
- In the bathroom, Charlie Clouser's score is different and much harsher as Xavier cuts the back of his neck, than the similar music in the theatrical cut.
- The scene where Matthews is beating up Jigsaw is extended with one extra punch.
As with the first Saw, there is an easter egg called "See SAW II in Sixty II". It has three "takes", the first one is using clay figures modeled after the characters in the film, the second replaces the character with common materials, and the third one uses photos from the film which are animated.
Soundtrack
The Saw II soundtrack was released on October 25, 2005 by WEA/Warner Bros. Records.
References
External links
