Oh yes. There will be blood. - Jigsaw

I liked "Saw" a lot. In spite of plot holes, lapses in logic, and a horrible sub-plot/performance by Danny Glover, I thought "Saw" was a very nihilistic simple thriller that really ended up being one of the best horror thrillers I've seen in years. Either way, when talks of "Saw 2" arose, I was optimistic if not a little annoyed. Sequels are rarely ever as good as the original, but with "Saw 2" I was pleasantly surprised and shocked, and a little nauseated. "Saw 2" takes its formula and amps it up to about eleven with a film that ends up becoming an eloquent study in madness and sadism, and explores the true lengths in which man will go to stay alive. What would you do to stay alive? Would you cut our your own eye? Cut off your legs? You will never know until Jigsaw puts you there and has you play the game.

Director Darren Bousman gives us a worthy and much more superior predecessor to the original with better characters, much better acting, and a more fleshed out story. Bousman's film ends up superior because it works both as a sequel and as an individual film. Bousman's installment has more of a sense of urgency, immediacy, and sheer menace that smacks of utter desperation, it's an atmosphere the "Cube" films could not achieve. This time we're told the story of a group of people locked in a house looking for a way out, they have two hours to find the antidote to a nerve agent being pumped in to the room that's already in their systems. If they don't find it, they die. Meanwhile, with a better sub-plot involving police, Donnie  Wahlberg plays an officer whose son is among the victims in the house and confronts Jigsaw trying to find his son's location.

What makes this sequel much better is that this time around, Jigsaw is much more dangerous; he could give Hannibal Lecter a run for his intellectual money. We get a glimpse of Jigsaw's psyche, and we learn that to him this is what he thinks is right, and no one can make him budge from his decision to make those who devalue life to fight for it beyond all costs. The ubiquitous Tobin Bell makes a full on performance as his puppet makes only two brief appearances this time around. Bell is on key as the menacing and insane Jigsaw killer who knows every single trick in the book and watches meekly, near death in his wheelchair as he engages in a battle of wits with Wahlberg's character while his victims slowly die in the trap he's set. Wahlberg is great here; I've always thought he was a much better actor than Mark, and he proves it with the anti-thesis character to Jigsaw.

One of the many complaints towards the original "Saw" were the iffy performances that ruined the film's potential to be a pure masterpiece, but we're in luck with this sequel. The acting is
much better this time around, and the cast is larger which leaves much more room for stand out performances and much more room for unadulterated bloodshed. Supplying many good supporting performances is Dina Meyer as an officer who has studied the Jigsaw killer and prefers to play his game rather than resort to brutal methods, while the beautiful Shawnee Smith returns for more carnage.

Her tragic character from the first is brought back to Jigsaw's twisted labyrinth and helps to guide the victims comprised of talented characters actors such as Franky G, Beverly Mitchell, and Glenn Plumber, respectively. They provide some usual character arch-types but help increase the tension and claustrophobia which is much more induced when more victims enter the scene. This sequel is ripe with tension and utter sadistic brutality that make it so cringe-inducing. Everything comes together in the shocking climax, the climax that brings every piece of the puzzle together, and reveals the ultimate moral of the story: When Jigsaw tells you to play the game, you play it. No exceptions.

In the end, in spite of it all, the "Saw" franchise is still held down by lack of logic. Where are these locations? Why can no one notice these things happening? Why does no one poke around and discover these things? It still makes no real sense in the end. And those who accused the original of being derivative of "Seven" will have a field day with
this as it becomes insanely derivative of "Silence of the Lambs". Cops looking to solve a crime confront a madman who may or may not hold the key to solving it, thus the killer waxes poetic, and circular logic, and ultimately wins out in the end. Give me a break.

In spite of being trapped in its own web of lack of logic, "Saw 2" is in every way superior to its predecessor in terms of performances, story, characterization, gore, and climax. Bousman does a great job in directing and writing and supplies fans with a worthy predecessor to a budding horror franchise that I'll keep my eye on.

• Saw 2 started out as a script of an original film by director Bousman, which the studio bought and tailored with him to make it a sequel to "Saw".
• Was shot in 25 days.

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