Saw 2 DVD Review (Donnie Wahlberg) Empire Movies

SAW 2 DVD REVIEW

Saw 2
(Lions Gate Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

7.5/10

6/10

Liam

In Saw II, our hero/serial killer Jigsaw is back with some new fun and games for some new unfortunate souls. The movie begins with one of these souls biting the biscuit courtesy of a "death mask" similar to the bear trap used in the first film. When the police discover the body, there's a clue left at the scene for a police officer (Donnie Wahlberg) who figures prominently in Jigsaw's grand scheme. When Wahlberg follows the clues to find Jigsaw, he not only finds his killer but finds video equipment showing an unfortunate group of people who are trapped inside a house with a deadly nerve agent that will leave them all dead within the next 2 hours. One of those people is Wahlberg's son. Jigsaw gives Wahlberg the option of saving his son, requiring him to just sit and talk for the next 2 hours. It sounds easy enough, but as tensions rise (and so does the body count), Wahlberg begins to lose it. What new tricks and twists and tricks does Jigsaw have up his sleeve? You're just going to have to watch and find out.

Features on this DVD begin with an audio commentary with director/co-writer Darren Lynn Bousman and actors Donnie Wahlberg and Beverley Mitchell. Next, we get a brief "Jigsaw's Games" featurette which shows interviews with the filmmakers and the cast about the movie and more specifically about some of Jigsaw's twisted little game. This is followed by "The Traps of Jigsaw" which focuses more on the actual traps used in the film including the head trap, the needle pit, the hand trap and the furnace. In "Bits & Pieces: The Props of Jigsaw" we look mainly at the "bat with the nails" used in the film. This is followed by a "Storyboard to Screen" feature that shows some multi-angle looks at storyboards alongside the finished product. There's also a conceptual art gallery where you can scroll through a variety of sketches. The disc also includes trailer for this and some other Lionsgate titles and an "In Memoriam" for Gregg Hoffman who produced the two Saw films and who died unexpectedly in December 2005.

This film was a worthy sequel to Saw. In terms of the gross-out factor I consider myself to have a strong stomach, but there were scenes here that just disgusted me - in the best possible way. I wanted to watch and turn away at the same time, and that's the best compliment I could give this movie. While I found it wasn't necessarily as smart as the original (I guessed a few of the movie's clues) the end of the movie was a nice twist. Bring on Saw III!!

Features
Audio Commentary with Director Darren Lynn Bousman and Actors Donnie Wahlberg and Beverley Mitchell, "Jigsaw's Game", "Bits and Pieces" - The Props of Saw II, "The Traps of Saw II", Storyboards and Conceptual Art Gallery, Trailers

Video
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Audio
5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX

Subtitles
English Captions, English, Spanish Subtitles

Release Date
February 14, 2006

Rating
R

Length
92 mins.

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