Saw II (2005)

If Saw represented the industrialization of violence, Saw II represents the mechanized globalization of it.

The film seeks to redeploy the first film's winning formula, and this time it brought the construction machinery to begin building a larger mythos around the Jigsaw identity. But beyond that, it ups the ante in terms of blood, body count, and brutality. In an attempt to recreate the horror of Saw but with a larger cast, there are certain character redundancies, but this remains a part of the film's intent on delivering the viewer more viable victims.

Certain parts of the film's identity remain perfectly intact: the rust and grime urban aesthetic, the hyperactive quick cuts in order to create tension and discomfort in the viewer, and delivery of an ending that recontextualizes our whole story.

The film also explores its own identity through its varied cast and traps. Some of the traps and riddles require some level of cooperation that the team is not capable of. For example, the wrist blade trap looked escapable if one had assistance; additionally, the riddle given to the group initially could only be solved by (somehow) interacting with every group member. Jigsaw has selected a group and built traps that simultaneously reward resisting their worst impulses and punish them for falling prey to familiar temptations.

Unfortunately, despite maintaining a reasonable amount of fidelity, the film fails to live up to its predecessor in a number of ways. Saw gave us deeply personalized characters and attached the audience experience to their suffering. Saw II mostly delivers cardboard cutouts that only stand in the first place in order to be flatly knocked down. Jigsaw being so near to death is also a large miscalculation; Tobin Bell is one of the draws of the series, and while successors and acolytes will always be interesting, Tobin Bell is Jigsaw.

The ending couldn't be clearer; we return to the set of the original film, the props still littering the room, and hear hectic audio of the first entry's events. It is even here that the music swells and our dramatic twist is delivered, in almost the exact same fashion as the first, albeit executed much more sloppily.

The film understands the identity of the first film and sets its sights on crafting a larger world around it but its success is mildly uneven. The experimentation it engaged in was necessary, and while the results were mixed, they successfully codified the blueprint of the series.

In essence, Saw II is really still Saw, just more of it, and stupider. If you enjoyed the first, you will likely enjoy the second, but where mass appeal is concerned, Saw II may not fare as well as Saw.