ok, as i wrote previously, i watched saw ii before i watched this. having watched this for the first time, im a little disappointed. from the trailer that i had seen, it was my assumption (and we know what assumptions are and do) that this film was SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER a chamber drama horror, set entirely in one room.END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER it wasnt. there are flash backs. which is fine. but to me, there was a clear difference in the look of the film between what we see between the two protagonists in their predicament and the flashbacks, etc., which explain how they got there. basically, the film SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER looks one way whenever it is about the two guys stuck in that room, and the look and even the style is diffferent whenever we see a scene outside of that room. the look of the former feels gritty and edgy, but the look of the latter seems too hollywood and polished. i just dont feel that the two different looks meshed well.END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER overall, this is a good film, very entertaining. but it could have made that next step to great film had it reconciled this issue. still, the events which lead up to the predicament in this film arent necessarily mind blowing. i think i would have enjoyed this more if SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER we never knew the reasons why they got there, but still had a history of jigsaw's maniacal past. END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER

one thing about this that i liked was that they didnt spend too much time in showing us the people die. most of it focuses on the tension created by this impending death, instead of the actual death. saw ii on the other hand shows a lot of people dying (relatively speaking-i mean, people do die in the first one, but they dont drop like flies like in the second one).

anyway, i like this film and its first sequel, even if it didnt take it to the next level. so in time, i'll go see the third one. by the way, i like this one more than the second one, because of the potential it had, and how part of the film actually was SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER a chamber drama horror. END SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER the second film was standard fare, which i enjoyed nonetheless. but here, at least for moments, it was something more intense.