Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Finally saw all the 'Saw' films prior to seeing 'Jigsaw' (as part of my wanting to see as many 2017 films as possible this year, during a quieter and less intensive period). Heard a lot about the films, good and bad, but wanted to see them for myself to know what to expect.The films as an overall series are a very mixed bag. The original 'Saw' had a great premise and while it was problematic it was still pretty good and one of the best in the series. Its first sequel is one of its few follow-ups to be just as good and contain what made its predecessor click as well as it did and, while it is full of its own problems, it is one of the better sequels by quite some way. It is very easy to see why people will dislike it, and the 'Saw' films in general, and no it is not because of the full throttle horror-like elements that are not for the faint hearted.'Saw II's' story is just as weak in the dialogue, here quite cheesy, half-baked and repetitive as well as at times rambling and sometimes irrelevant. Actually it's worse, at least the dialogue in the first 'Saw' had some tightness and intrigue, even if they didn't come consistently. The credibility lapses here are just as numerous and just as big, although the character behaviour here doesn't frustrate as much, nothing as bad as that for Danny Glover's character.Its twists are not as bold and are uneven in execution. Some of them are very clever and devilish, like the apprehending of Jigsaw, didn't see that one coming. Others are plain stupid and pretty predictable. The ending is a let-down, instead of the shocking one of the original this one was hideously contrived. The characters, other than Jigsaw and Eric, are basically cliché-ridden filler and are either bland, irritating or both.However, really liked that 'Saw II' was visually more elaborate and slicker than the production values of the first with much tighter, more audacious and more professional-looking editing. Even if one does miss somewhat the effectively claustrophobic feel. The music is eerily unsettling.Despite its ridiculousness, the story is also edge-of-your-seat and highly atmospheric. A lot of it delights and disturbs, with some truly imaginative traps and uncompromisingly brutal demises. The novelty has not worn off yet. The direction is serviceable and once again Jigsaw's modus operandi, impulse and justification sets him apart from most characters of his type.Saying that Donnie Wahlberg is a huge improvement over Cary Elwes is saying a lot, really not that hard to be better and one would have to be bottom of the barrel SyFy/The Asylum-level to be worse. Tobin Bell is terrifying as one of the most iconic villains of the past twenty years or so (or at least to me). Apart from Franky G the actors don't fare shabbily.In short, very uneven but for a horror sequel not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Saw II (2005) is of course the sequel to the famous Saw (2004). This sequel didn't really impress me all that much. I'll start with what I didn't really care for in the movie. One of the negatives about the movie is some of the cast members acting ability. Tobin Bell and Donnie Wahlberg both turn in good performances, but to be honest, the other actors just didn't really sell me on their performances or pull me into it the movie more. Another one of the negatives is that the movie as a whole isn't all that interesting. The first Saw movie is undoubtedly the best in the series, and it surpasses this second installment. To be completely honest, if you watch Saw for the traps, then you probably won't like this one, the jigsaw traps aren't that interesting or creative at all. The characters, except for Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) and his teenage son, don't have much depth at all, which made me not really care about them very much. The writing is slightly below average. So all in all, Saw II gets a 4/10, just not a very entertaining film. I don't even think fans of the Saw films would enjoy it very much.

The ruthless, manipulative killer is back at it in this twisted horror sequel. Jigsaw's evil is exposed in the first scene where a man must choose between carving out his eye or having a deathmask full of spikes close on his head. The man makes the wrong decision and leaves a crime scene to be investigated by Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). The body had puzzle pieces carved out of it. His ex-partner Detective Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer) tries to convince Matthews to work with her on the case. He can't help it and figures out a clue that leads to a SWAT team raid on a booby-trapped hideout and the surrender of John Kramer (Tobin Bell). Jigsaw takes the upper hand when he reveals a set of monitors that show a group of people captures including Matthews's son Daniel (Erik Knudsen).The eight people trapped in the factory all wake up with no knowledge of how they got there. Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) is familiar with how Jigsaw operates having survived the ordeal before. She finds a tape recorder hidden in the wall which plays the tape of Jigsaw rules. They only have two hours after breathing in a deadly nerve agent and must find an antidote by solving the killer's riddle. Xavier Chavez (Franky G) disobey the order and a man has his head blown off as a result. Matthews must watch his son and the other victims explored the house in search of a way out. It is revealed on another tape that Obi Tate (Timothy Burd) kidnapped the others so he has to crawl into a furnace to get an antidote. He's gets burned alive. Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com

A step down in quality but a step up in extremity, the follow-up chapter to James Wan's Saw may not be as impressive & gratifying on storytelling scale as its predecessor but it still succeeds as a worthy addition to the franchise that expands upon the premise of the original while exploring the backstory of the notorious serial killer, Jigsaw.The second instalment in the infamous series, Saw II finds Jigsaw being apprehended by the police but he points them towards a set of computer monitors that show several people trapped inside a house, and one among them is the arresting officer's son. With time running out quickly, this officer has no choice but to play his game if he wishes to see his kid again.Co-written & directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, this second chapter adopts the narrative style & visual design of the original but shifts a gear or two when it comes to the violence, gore & sadistic games. The plot is interesting, albeit a little far-fetched at times, and makes use of few flashbacks that covers our serial killer's backstory and briefly explains why he became Jigsaw.The booby traps are cleverly imagined although not all of them work out in the story's favour. Also making a surprise return is Jigsaw's only known survivor who's thrown into the game along with the rest. The performances aren't any good but Tobin Bell does leave a positive impression in his role while Charlie Clouser's score only gets more intense as the plot nears its conclusion.On an overall scale, Saw II lacks the freshness & compact structure of the original but attempts to make up for those shortcomings by levelling up its violence & other extremity elements. Although it's no instant classic like its predecessor, it nonetheless works as a fine entry in the series and will delight those who came here looking for some good old-fashioned torture & body mutilations. Worth a shot.