SAW II (2005)

After the original entry came out, this series got popular overnight. This is evident by the first sequel coming out just a year after the first and hype already was high for what was to come. SAW II continues the story from the first with mostly new characters…with of course Jigsaw and now a survivor from the first entry stuck playing a new game. The main difference in this one though is where the first movie we don’t really know who the actual Jigsaw was due to red herrings, in this one he is front and center for most of the movie playing a psychological game of cat-and-mouse with a detective who’s son got unwillingly trapped into participating in a game, which takes place over CCTV footage while Jigsaw is being apprehended by the police. The scenes go back and forth between the game and the interrogation with Detective Matthews/Jigsaw of why this new game is being played out and the balance is done very well. We get one of the most notorious traps/scenes in the entire franchise in this one (hope you don’t hate needles) and the movie’s ending is the beginning of the expansion of the lore of what the entire series will eventually boil down to. If you liked the first one…check this out to see what consequences lie ahead. We’re still in tight script territory here…haven’t gotten to the more crazy sequels yet.

SLASH SCENE: NEEDLE PIT!

SLASH SCORE: 9/10