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Saw II

(2005, Rated R, Horror, Starring Donnie Wahlberg, Tobin Bell, Beverley Mitchell)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 17, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 17.
  • Is it any good?

    1.0
  • Common Sense says

    Gruesome and explicit -- not for kids.

Why We Rated This not for kids

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Killer is vengeful and malicious; father yells at his son; characters cheat and abuse each other out of fear.
  • Violence:

    Gruesome, bloody violence, as serial killer takes out victims one by one.
  • Sex:

    Women wear small, tight tops; one male victim appears in his boxers; reference made to a "door" between a woman's legs.
  • Language:

    Frequent cursing, including the f-word.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Cigarette smoking, intravenous drug use (and character is then dropped in a pit full of needles), a beer bottle appears on a table.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Saw II

Parents need to know that this movie is not for kids. It features gruesome violence, with detailed, explicit imagery of bodies penetrated by sharp implements, shot, burned up, slammed, smashed, punched, kicked, sawed, cut, and dismembered. The movie includes jump scenes and frequent arguments among victims and cops, as well as between the primary cop and the killer, who holds the cop's son hostage. The father and son argue at the beginning of the film, setting the stage for the father's remorse and anger. Characters bleed (lots), vomit, and cough blood. Characters smoke and curse relentlessly; in flashback, one character injects drugs, to demonstrate her addiction. The film also features "extreme" editing, very rough and jaggedy, which in itself may be disturbing for some viewers.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the movie's rudimentary efforts to set up the killer's "moralistic" framework. How does Jigsaw judge his victims in order to rationalize his cruelty? How might the father and son have worked out their conflict in a less sensational way? What does the son want from his father? And where is the mother in all this?

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Our Members Say

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  •  I think this movie is

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See all 35 member reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  1. I rate this title off for age 10 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content
    • Inappropriate language
    • Drinking, smoking, or drug use
    • Negative message
    • Negative role models

    gory, good, but over the top-gore!

    This movie is good, but it's gore city. This is a fright fest not for the faint of heart, please, kids 10 and under shoukld not see this psycho killer, guts-filled, explicit horror movie about a man turning drug dealers, addicts, abusers and murderers and cheaters in to torture experiments in a nerve gas house.

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Minnesota
    I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language

    • My highlights are:
    • Positive messages

    great movie

    Great movie violent but ends with a great twist, not as violent as the first though

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    Lives in Massachusetts
    I rate this title off for age 14 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language
    • Drinking, smoking, or drug use
    • Negative message
    • Negative role models

    Violent...

    Not appropriate for most 14 year olds. Very violent bloody, gory. Prolly 50+ f-words. All the people in it are terrible role models. The entire message is just a terrible message. Much more blood than I expected even. Almost every second. But this one actually is enjoying to watch because the plot is decent and there are some real surprises for all of you Saw and horror movie fans out there.

  4. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Louisiana
    I rate this title iffy for age 16 and give it 4.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate language
    • Negative message
    • Negative role models

    Let-Down of a Sequel to a Great Psychological Thriller

    Okay, how could this happen? After a wonderful psychological thriller in 2004, "SAW" has a sequel in 2005 that is, well, less than what is expected. This film is about a handful of Jigsaw's new victims finding their way through a test-rigged house. Things to look out for are: References to adultery and affairs, an offensive and hurtful sexual remark toward a woman to her face, gratutious vicious brooding violence throughout including on-screen torture and brutality toward defenseless victims, profanity throughout with the most frequent cuss being the "F" word, and references to the use of illegal narcotics. Bottom line: This movie is rated R. Ages 16+. 4/5 stars. Enjoy.

  5. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in New Jersey
    I rate this title off for age 13 and give it 2.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    Stupid boring waste of a good movie

    This could have been a truly awesome movie but it just wasn't. The deaths were dumb the acting was bad and it just altogether sucked

  6. Kid Reviewer Age 12
    Lives in Virginia
    I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it 3.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    second time around for saw is more gore less story

    the first film had al ittle bit of violence hear and there this one has slightly more violence and slightly less story but is still interesting and bizzare people if you saw the first fil you can watch the second film however beware this is not for kidss or young teent

  7. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it 3.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence

    I am 13 and watch a ton of scary movies,take that boys girls love scary movies too.

    This movie is very,very,VERY gorey! If you can't stand the sight of blood than DONT WATCH THE SAW MOVIES! People put there hands into saws, a person is thrown into a pile of needles, and some are dismembered!

  8. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title off for age 16 and give it 3.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content
    • Inappropriate language
    • Drinking, smoking, or drug use

    this movie was even better than the first . more gore more trapes and more bloody fun

  9. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Louisiana
    I rate this title on for age 17 and give it 5.0

    baby

    i love tv soooooooooooooooooo much saw three yhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  10. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Louisiana
    I rate this title on for age 17 and give it 5.0

    baby

    i love tv soooooooooooooooooo much saw three yhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  11. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in New Hampshire
    I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it 5.0

    A psychologically stimulating, all around excellent movie.

    The content of this movie is not meant for younger audiences or those with a weak stomach. If you are able to get along with the blood and gore, this movie has a deeper, more psycological aspect that most horror movies don't contain. If you don't have the capability to look behind the normal horror aspects for a deeper meaning, then don't even bother.

  12. Parent Reviewer
    Lives in Minnesota
    I rate this title off for age 17 and give it 4.0

    great for adults

    gory great fun

  13. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Wisconsin
    I rate this title on for age 17 and give it 5.0

    the great movie

    i loved the all 5 movies i cant what to see the other 2 6 and 7

  14. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Virginia
    I rate this title off for age 2 and give it 4.0

    Good Movie but best for Adults

    There's a good moral if you can look past the language and gore but it's still not for kids.

  15. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Utah
    I rate this title on for age 17 and give it 2.0

    The only reason

    The only reason i put on is because this is only apropriate for 16+ but no one else!

  16. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title off for age 2 and give it 3.0

    Saw 1 is definitely better than Saw 2...

    Just finished watching "Saw 2", and I'm still shaking. Let me put this very simply: THIS MOVIE IS MESSED UP AND NOT FOR KIDS!!! If you've seen the first "Saw", and you enjoyed it, I would recommend staying away from this. Why? Because the second outing in Jigsaw's games takes everything that was good about the first one and perverts it. Point #1 is the gore; the first by no means indulged in gore, only put it where it needed to be. This one just spills blood because it wants to. Point #2 is the characters; in the first flick, you were rooting for the characters, but this time around, you're hoping the characters just die in a funny, yet gory manner. And my final Point is the shock ending; "Saw 1"'s shock ending didn't necesarrily set it up for a sequel, but "Saw 2"'s shock ending made a third "Saw" almost mandatory. So, to conclude, you should only see this if you're a horror hound. If not, then watch the first Saw instead; trust me, it's better.

  17. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Oklahoma
    I rate this title off for age 2 and give it 3.0

    Meh

    It was an okay movie, I only watched for the death scences though. I gave Social Behaviour a OFF because the characters lie, cheat, kill, and abuse each other to get what they want/need. Violence gets an OFF as well, many torture scenes, the most prominent, where a man gets burned alive.

  18. Teen Reviewer Age 17
    Lives in Pennsylvania
    I rate this title iffy for age 2 and give it 5.0

  19. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Louisiana
    I rate this title iffy for age 2 and give it 4.0

    Better than the first.

    Perhaps I'm a bit biased since I actually watched Saw II before I watched Saw; but I definitely think this one is better. It has one of the *best* plot twists I've ever seen in a movie and hosts just the right amount of blood and gore to appeal to a so-called 'gorehound' (which is what most people I know class me as). The opening scene was a bit of a gut-twister as I expected a really gory outcome, but it didn't deliver half as much as one would think it promised. Throughout the movie, there's quite a bit of cursing, but I don't personally find that a problem. When given a movie with blood and gore of such a magnitude, language will be the least of your worries. It's a good movie and a must-see for horror fans (though it's a bit more on the psychological thriller side and actually has a halfway decent message behind the villain's insanity), but definitely not for the tweens and under. Probably not that good even for some adults - it all depends on your tolerance for fictional violence (that sometimes looks very real).

  20. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title iffy for age 2 and give it 4.0

    Awesome, But definelty not as good as the first.

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