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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Saw II can be found here.
No. Saw II is the second movie in the Saw series, preceded by Saw (2004), which was based on a screenplay by Leigh Whannel and James Wan. The screenplay for Saw II was co-written by Whannell and director Darren Lynn Bousman. The other four movies in the series include Saw III (2006), Saw IV (2007), Saw V (2008), and Saw VI (due for release in October 2009).
Three. Tobin Bell appears again as John "The Jigsaw Killer" Kramer. Also back are the characters of Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) and Detective Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer).
Like in the previous Saw, Jigsaw has begun a new game by imprisoning eight victims in an abandoned house that is being filled with a slow-acting but deadly gas. This time his victims again include Amanda Young plus: 2) Addison (Emmanuelle Vaugier), 3) Gus (Tony Nappo), 4) Obi (Tim Burd), 5) Xavier (Franky G), 6) Laura (Beverley Mitchell), 7) Jonas (Glenn Plummer), and 8) Daniel Matthews (Erik Knudsen), son of Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) who is also slated to become a part of Jigsaw's new game. The victims have been informed that they have two hours to find the antidote to the gas. However, each syringe filled with the antidote is only obtainable through a trap that can severely harm or even kill the person trying to get it.
The main reason why everyone is put together in the same location is to put pressure on Eric Matthews. Eric arrested and framed all of the victims (except for his son Daniel). If the victims find out that Daniel is Eric's son, that puts Daniel in immediate danger. Jigsaw assures Eric that the only reason he has orchestrated this game is because he wants to talk to him for a few hours.
From the tapes provided by Jigsaw, Obi was guilty of lies, cons, deceit and kidnapping, and Xavier is a drug dealer responsible for destroying other people's lives. According to the commentary track on Saw II, Gus was guilty of embezzlement and Laura was a kleptomaniac. Addison was a prostitute. (More on Addison and Gus is offered in Saw IV). Jonas didn't state his crimes nor was his tape heard. Viewers assume that he has ties to the mafia or some crime ring based on his fear for his family should he disappear. Daniel apparently has no sin and is only there to put pressure on his father. Amanda is there to protect Daniel and make sure that he makes it out unharmed.
On the tape, Jigsaw stated "You all possess the combination to the safe. Think hard. The numbers are in the back of your mind. The clues of their order can be found over the rainbow." Turns out that each person has a color-coded number on the back of their neck. 'Over the rainbow' refers to the seven primary colors that make up a rainbow in order: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet (ROYGBIV). The numbers and colors that we saw were: Red = 2 (Gus); Orange = ? (it was either on Daniel's or Xavier's neck - we did not see either); Yellow = 16 (Jonas); Green = 11 (Obi); Blue = 8 (Laura); Indigo = 9 (Addison); and Violet = 7 (Amanda).
First to go is Gus, killed by a booby-trapped door. Then goes Obi, who is burned to death when he tries to get the antidote from inside of a furnace. Jonas is killed in a fight with Xavier. Laura succumbs to the gas, and Addison is left to die when her arms become trapped by razors as she reaches for one of the syringes. Daniel slashes Xavier's throat. Daniel and Amanda survive.
Daniel and Amanda escape from Xavier through a tunnel that leads to the bathroom (where they come upon Adam's decaying body), but Xavier follows them there. When Amanda points out that he won't be able to read the number on the back of his neck unless she tells him, Xavier reaches behind himself with a knife and cuts off the skin from the back of his neck in order to read it. He then turns his knife on Amanda and Daniel, but Daniel slashes his throat with a hacksaw. Back in his lair, Jigsaw agrees to take Eric to the house. Detective Kerry, watching the live video feed, finally gets a lock on it and notices that Eric and Jigsaw have left the lair. The SWAT team arrives at the source of the video feed, but Kerry cannot see them on her monitor and realizes that the feed is not live. This is corroborated when the team finds several VCRs playing tapes of events that have already taken place. The timer in the lair finally reaches zero, and a safe snaps open to reveal Daniel sitting inside, hands bound and wearing an oxygen mask. While Jigsaw waits in the car, Eric tears through the house looking for Daniel. He finds his way to the bathroom where he is knocked out by someone wearing a mask. When he comes to, he finds himself shackled to the wall and a tape recorder in his hand. He listens to the tape. Amanda's voice can be heard thanking him for sending her to prison on a framed drug charge because it resulted in her meeting up with Jigsaw, who became her father, teacher, and mentor. She assures him that she is going to carry on John's work -- helping people to value the life they've been given -- after he dies. Amanda then appears in the bathroom doorway, says "Game over," and closes the door. In the final scene, Jigsaw sits in the car, unmoving. Is he dead or alive?
To secure that the movie was rated "R" by the MPAA over 50 censorship cuts were made. The unrated Special Edition, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray some time later, contains the uncut version. It offers more than 81 altered scenes compared to the theatrical version. A detailed comparison can be found here.
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