Saw II (2005)

Director:

Darren Lynn Bousman

Writers:

Leigh Whannell (written by) and
Darren Lynn Bousman (written by)

Release Date:

28 October 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

We Dare You Again...

Plot:

Jigsaw locks a few unlucky people in a booby trapped shelter and they must find a way out before they inhale too much of a lethal nerve gas and die. But they must watch out, for the traps Jigsaw has set in the shelter lead to death also.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Nerve Gas | Killer | Antidote | Murder

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Tobin Bell	...	Jigsaw / John
Shawnee Smith	...	Amanda
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Eric Matthews
Erik Knudsen	...	Daniel Matthews
Franky G	...	Xavier
Glenn Plummer	...	Jonas
Emmanuelle Vaugier	...	Addison
Beverley Mitchell	...	Laura
Tim Burd	...	Obi (as Timothy Burd)
Dina Meyer	...	Kerry
Lyriq Bent	...	Rigg
Noam Jenkins	...	Michael
Tony Nappo	...	Gus
Kelly Jones	...	SWAT Member Pete
Vincent Rother	...	SWAT Member Joe

Also Known As:

Saw 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content.

Runtime:

93 min | 95 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS (5.1 surround)

Certification:

Ireland:18 | Australia:MA | Japan:R-15 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | New Zealand:R18 | Brazil:16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Norway:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Indonesia:Dewasa | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/18 | Netherlands:16 | UK:18 | Chile:14 | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | Germany:16 (cut) | Germany:18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Iceland:16 | Mexico:C | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14 | Philippines:R-13 (cut) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating on appeal)

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Twisted Pictures

Trivia:

Jigsaw's puppet was originally controlled by fishing line (in Saw (2004)). This time around, the crew had a slightly larger budget and decided to completely redo the puppet and make it mechanically controlled.

Goofs:

Continuity: Gus' tie changes from being sloppily pulled to the right in select shots as they wake up and then being straight in other shots.

Quotes:

Daniel: My Dad's a... he's a real hard ass. You know, he's probably got half the city out looking for me, just so he can kick my ass for disappearing on him.
Amanda: ...yeah, probably.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Masters of Horror: John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (#1.8)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Burn The Witch

A few nice ideas dulled by a lot of stupidity

I have the same main problem I had with Saw II that I had with the original (Shockingly enough, not the gaping plot holes). At the core, both movies are about the same thing: Elaborate puzzles that stupid people ignore so they can spend more time yelling at each other.

I really wanted to like Saw II, but I felt like I was being teased. I catch a whiff of interesting puzzle-solving, instead I have a lot of yelling.

It's a personal preference, I know. The movie I wanted to see was about people adapting to their situation and using their brains against that of an evil genius. Instead, I got the evil genius (Tobin Bell is great as Jigsaw, by the way, one of the parts of the film I really enjoyed) going to a lot of work for some people who, frankly, don't seem to appreciate it. The creators seemed to want to make a film about how people's lives are dictated by their unavoidable flaws (driven home by the ending, the last few twists, and the general character of the cop, all of which are the reason my rating is as high as it is), and how panic destroys people.

And the horror... isn't. I don't find blood scary. There are some *shocking* moments in this film, some cringe-inducing moments, but nothing actually scary. That really disappointed me, because Adam's capture in Saw I was one of the scarier scenes I've seen in a movie in a long time. There's nothing for people who actually want to be scared here, just grossed out.