Friday, November 04, 2005

Saw II

Film: Saw II (2005)
Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman
Tagline: Oh yes, there will be blood.
Rating: ** out of 5 stars



What a friggin letdown! I loved the first movie. I still get goosebumps when I think about the final twist. The directing was original, the story was exciting and engaging, and the actors were likable (fuck anyone who had a beef with Cary Elwes!!).

But this one....ugh. With a side of ugh. From the opening scene, I already knew the directing was gonna be shitty. It was a shallow, hyper, unoriginal version of the first film's directing. Probably the best example of Bousman's shit job is the 'final montage' of Saw II. For some reason he felt the need to retrace every insignificant event of the movie. Just awful.

No body was particularly likable in this movie. Was I supposed to give a shit about Donnie Wahlberg's character? Or about the idiots running around Jigsaw's house of horrors? The most interesting, sympathetic character in the whole movie is the killer! Granted, I'm sure that was partially intended, but mostly...Tobin Bell is neato. I think I like him even more when he's hunched over on IVs and a respirator!

One thing the movie did well: the already-infamous needle pit. That scene would give anyone nightmares. Some of the other goriness was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Saw II could have easily turned itself around with a wicked twist ending like its predecessor. There is one subtle twist that is sorta satisfying, but the main "twist" is a completely stupid, cliche cop-out. I rolled my eyes and wanted to flip off the movie screen. It's a petty M. Night Shyamalanian attempt at a twist to begin with, but it's especially unsatisfying when compared against the first film. Like I said...a huge letdown.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only thing worth watching in the first one was the twist ending... but you had to get through the whole movie to get there! What an awful film.

And, I might add, the worst Cary Elwes film on record. Disastrous.