Saw II

Infobox Film
name =Saw II


caption ="Saw II" film poster
director =Darren Lynn Bousman
producer =Gregg Hoffman
Oren Koules
Mark Burg
writer =Leigh Whannell
Darren Lynn Bousman
starring =Donnie Wahlberg
Tobin Bell
Shawnee Smith
Erik Knudsen
Franky G
Glenn Plummer
Emmanuelle Vaugier
Beverley Mitchell
Timothy Burd
Dina Meyer
Lyriq Bent
Noam Jenkins
Tony Nappo
music =Charlie Clouser
Maynard James Keenan
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =Lions Gate Entertainment
released =October 28, 2005
runtime =92 min.
language =English
country = USA
CAN
budget=$4,000,000 (est.)
preceded_by ="Saw"
followed_by="Saw III"
amg_id=1:316833
imdb_id=0432348

"Saw II" is a 2005 horror film, and the sequel to the 2004 "Saw". The film (apart from external shots) was filmed in one building over the span of 25 days. It was released in most parts of the world on October 28, 2005, but not released in Australia until December 1, 2005. Darren Lynn Bousman took over directing duties, and also co-wrote the story's script with Leigh Whannell, the original film's co-writer.

The film features the antagonist of the previous film, 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 the character's back story, explaining why he became a serial killer.

"Saw II" film is currently #16 on Bravo's Even Scarier Movie Moments. Following the film's opening weekend gross of $31.5 million, Lions Gate Films commissioned "Saw III", released on October 27, 2006.

Plot

The film opens with Michael, a police informant, finding himself ensnared in a deadly trap created by the Jigsaw Killer. A videotaped message informs him that a Venus flytrap-like helmet full of spikes has been locked around his neck and will close on his head unless he finds the key in time. Michael realizes, through hints left by Jigsaw, that the key has been implanted behind his right eye. He finds a scalpel nearby, but cannot bring himself to cut out his own eye; when the timer runs out, the device slams shut, killing him instantly.

After an argument with his rebellious teenage son Daniel (Erik Knudsen), Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is called to the scene of Michael's death. Following clues that have been left for him, he is able to pinpoint Jigsaw's lair in an abandoned steel factory. The police raid the building and find Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) himself present, though considerably weakened by cancer. Nearby is a set of computer monitors that show eight people trapped in a mysterious house filled with deadly nerve gas, among them Daniel and Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Jigsaw's only known survivor. Jigsaw promises that Matthews will see his son in a "safe, secure state" if he can simply talk with the dying man for a while.

The story now intercuts between Jigsaw's lair as Matthews talks with him in an attempt to buy time while the video signal is traced, and the captives in the house, who are trying to secure antidotes to the nerve gas they are breathing. One of them, Gus (Tony Nappo), is killed by a booby-trapped door shortly after they begin their search. Obi (Tim Burd), an accessory to the other victims' kidnappings, is burned alive while attempting to retrieve two antidotes in a furnace. The group later finds a pit filled with thousands of hypodermic syringes, with a key to an antidote hidden within. Xavier, 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.

Meanwhile, Jigsaw explains his evolution into a killer to Matthews and reveals to him that the victims 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 Jigsaw's philosophical ramblings, trashes several models and plans but fails to move Jigsaw.

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 in a fight, he begins stalking the remaining four, who have been made aware that Daniel is the son of the adults' arresting officer. Laura soon dies from gas exposure, and Addison's arms become trapped in a glass box containing razors as she tries to retrieve an antidote for herself.

Matthews, meanwhile, 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, which leads to the washroom of the first film (including the bodies of Adam Faulkner and Zep Hindle, and the severed foot of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, all now badly decomposed), where Daniel then 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. After he threatens Amanda, Daniel, who has only feigned collapse, fatally slashes Xavier's throat with one of the hacksaws from the first movie.

The SWAT team arrives at the location of the video signal, but it is not the same house that has been shown on the monitors in Jigsaw's lair; the displayed events took place on a previous occasion, in an identical house, and were broadcast from tape. Reaching the correct house, Matthews enters the now-empty bathroom and is injected in the leg with a sedative by an unknown assailant. At the abandoned lair, a timer expires and a safe opens, revealing a hyperventilating Daniel inside wearing an oxygen mask.

Matthews awakens to find himself chained by the ankle to the bathroom's pipework. An audio tape lying next to him reveals that Amanda has put him there. In a montage of flashbacks, she is shown to have become Jigsaw's protégé. Amanda appears in the door and says "Game over," before closing the bathroom door, Matthews screaming threats and abuse; though different characters, the scene is otherwise identical to the ending of the first film. Outside the house, a badly beaten Jigsaw slowly forms a smile.

Cast

Critical reaction & Box office

Even more so than in the previous film, 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. [ [http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2005-11-04&section=4&id=3 Saw 2 not as sharp as original ] ] [ [http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/28/ew.mov.weather/ CNN.com - EW reviews: Bad 'Weather,' grim 'Saw' - Oct 28, 2005 ] ] [ [http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=8112 Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat ] ] [http://www.filmgecko.com/saw-ii/] [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928622?categoryid=31&cs=1] 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 got plan 2 always in place. And there’s probably been a number of plan 2s. I mean, we’ve only seen three movies. Maybe there are six more somewhere where he failed, where something didn’t play out." [ [http://joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=5670 Arrow in the Head News: INT: Tobin Bell ] ]

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the aggregate rating of this film was only 35%, with several reviewers revolted by the explicit gore and torture scenes. [ [http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/ddb5490109a79f598625623d0015f1e4/6d47c1b2bde054e5882570a90058997d?OpenDocument Saw II Movie Review, DVD Release - Filmcritic.com ] ] Of the few critics who provided positive reviews, some remarked that it was a worthy follow-up, providing plenty of what fans of the first expected. [ [http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-saw28oct28,0,1007178.story?coll=cl-mreview 'Saw II' - MOVIE REVIEW - Los Angeles Times - calendarlive.com ] ] As with its predecessor, however, the film garnered far more positive reception with the public than with critics. It currently holds a rating of 74% by users at Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 6.9 at the Internet Movie Database. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432348/ Saw II (2005) ] ]

Box office

Made for only $5 million (not including a $20 million P&A budget), "Saw II" grossed $153 million worldwide, which includes $87 million in the United States.

oundtrack

Unrated Edition

"Saw II" has been released on a standard as well as a "Special Edition" uncut DVD. Differences in this edition include:
*When the police are entering the Wilson Steel Warehouse, there are several shots added where we see Jigsaw in the distance, eating cereal (Cheerios, to be exact) and then looking up when he hears the S.W.A.T. team.
*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, there are several new shots, and the scene is somewhat longer.
*The scene of Amanda searching the syringe pit is extended by about a minute; this minute does not consist of Amanda thrashing around, but is mostly taken up by her sitting motionless inside, afraid to move.
*In the bathroom, Charlie Clouser's score is somewhat different. It is a much louder and harsher rendition of the Hello Zepp theme than in the theatrical cut.
*When Jonas walks into the room with Xavier (right before being killed), he vomits more blood and flesh-like matter than in the theatrical cut.
*When Jonas is killed by Xavier, there are new shots added of blood coming from Jonas' head that pools on the ground.
*The opening scene with "The Venus Headtrap" is extended and the song "Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Headtrap Mix)" is playing in the background.
*The scene where Matthews is beating up Jigsaw is extended with one extra punch.

This is the shortest unrated version in the series at 95 minutes, whereas "Saw III"'s unrated version is close to two hours.

As with the first SAW, there is an easter egg called "SAW 2 in 62". 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.officialsaw.com/ Official SAW Website and Fan Club]
* [http://www.officialtobinbell.com/ Official Tobin Bell Website and Fan Club]
* [http://www.collectsaw.com/ Official SAW Props, Wardrobe and Autograph Auction]
* [http://www.saw2.com/ Official website]
*
*
* [http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?name=movies&id=1543956/ "Saw III": Jigsaw Cuts Loose ] Video interview with Tobin Bell on [http://www.mtv.com/ MTV.com]
* [http://www.moviehole.net/interviews/20051028_exclusive_interview_donnie_wah.html Donnie Wahlberg interview for Saw II]
* [http://saw.ugo.com Official World of Saw] at [http://www.ugo.com UGO]
* [http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=3592&In=WikE Detailed Comparison between R-Rated and Unrated] ------

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Doom
date = October 30
year = 2005
after = Chicken Little