The compelling failure of Jigsaw’s philosophy and his complete ignorance to it sees a blueprint here, expanding the broad lip service of the first film’s twist into something more palpable but ultimately emotionally unengaging. Even as a impressionable kid watching this series for the first time Saw 2 left me indifferent, you just don’t care for anyone here even Jigsaw because everyone, the victim, the villains are insufferable assholes yet plot conveniences are always kind to them, doesn’t mean that is inherently bad for a film but 2 in particular uses their vulnerability as a reduction, a expression of their evil and flaws to the point that it’s easy to forget them as people or characters but rather archetypes but at the same time this is done so the film won’t be too miserable then it already is because yeah this is a nasty Nasty movie. But while the first film has the authenticity of Leigh Whannell’s experience with that one headache he got one time from over working his 9 to 5, adding weight to the economic and morally questionable aspects of how we try to survive and be “grateful”, the perspective here is impersonal at best and uninspired at worst.

This is still palp entertainment but crudely put from the technical standpoint to the emotional illogical gap, the fact of the matter is people don’t sell drugs, prostitute themselves, steal just because they are lazy or the devil said so, it’s wrong but you can’t deny that you need to have a will to live, to survive to do such things so while it makes sense in the context of the larger series, just for this film, Jigsaw’s contradictions is unchallenged and confused specially how the setting and traps doesn’t quite work to reveal these people, like how about have one of them actually get the antipode and see them conflict over who gets to have it? Also the inclusion of detective Mathews is all the more frustrating, I like the idea of this helpless cop who can only inflict unlawful violence and faked evidence in order to serve “justice” unable to do anything to Jigsaw but I just wish he would challenge John more, maybe believe in his own righteous ways as much as Jigsaw does? There’s just ways to go about the character dynamics and their relation to the themes in a more provoking and exciting manner, you know a film is weak when it plays Hello Zepp 2 times and both comes off as unenthusiastic.

On a purely visceral level though, the rough around the edges conventionally build of the narrative, themes and production does add to the overall gruesome melodramatic atmosphere, the attitude here is mean and morbid, making for pure unpleasantness that removes any attempts this tries at being about a flawed cop father trying to get back his son or redemption? From ringing true and instead hopeless, yeah maybe this is about the failure of redemption but atleast gives us a glimpse of taste of what that might be like for these people, atleast enough that it won’t be unsurprising that yeah they’ll fail of course. There’s nothing to back up besides twisted actions after twisted actions, repetitive and basically what people not in the know claim these movies are when Saw could be a lot more. Not saying that I do not like nihilism in my Saw films, that’s part of the appeal after all but it needs to have more bite and depth then “druggies are scary kids” “cops have guns so be careful kids”. If Saw is like a kid, Saw 2 is a teen in its surface level edgy moody, am too deep for the world phase, but don’t worry it will pass, hopefully revisiting 3 today will make up for this disappointment.