Could this really be the last of the Saw films? Unlikely. Saw 3D is being billed with the tagline “The Final Chapter”. Realistically this franchise ended a couple films ago. The Saw franchise began with an original concept of offering someone a choice. A simple choice, live or die. To live, its victims had to endure such horrific torture so that when and if they were to make it out alive, they would see the errors of their ways and be “reborn”. If only the producers, writers, and the director taken any of this to heart and gave this story some new and unique thought so it could be reborn.
The unique ways of torturing people was the key to the initial films success. Murderers, rapists, abusers, druggies and so on were the ones to attract the attention of the Jigsaw killer. This movie begins with a familiar character crawling away after he’s endured his test and survived. Those who have seen the first film will recognize him and start to wonder why we’re seeing this character again.
Then we cut to a public setting where we have three people, one woman and two men all positioned with giant saw blades between them. As if the writers have lost any sense of the original intent of the Jigsaw killer we learn that the three of them are all involved in a love triangle. No murderers here, just some poor guys pining after the same girl that’s played them both. The audience can see what’s coming from a mile away.
The main storyline is that Bobby, played by Sean Patrick Flanery has written a book called S.U.R.V.I.V.E.. The book details his horrific story enduring and surviving one of the Jigsaw killer’s games. He has written this book to both help people and the prospect of making a lot of money definitely is not something he opposes. As we progress into the film, Bobby is forced to endure a one hour challenge for a reason that will reveal itself early on in the film.
Back again is Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) as Jigsaw’s accomplice. Out for revenge against Jill (Betsy Russell), the wife of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), his pursuit leads to the involvement of Detective Gibson (Chad Donella).
Longtime series editor, Kevin Greutert directs this film. The style and feel of this Lionsgate film is that of the prior films. He does his best to “supposedly” wrap up the film franchise and end it in a satisfying conclusion to its fans. The film is plagued by actors that simply cannot act. Costas Mandylor’s performance of Detective Hoffman is just plain and simply falls flat. Perhaps it’s because there is no meat in his role for him to work off of.
People will certainly flock to this film in large numbers on its opening weekend. It’s opening just in time for Halloween and it doesn’t disappoint in terms of gore, blood, and graphic violence. The 3D is absolutely useless and not worth the money spent on it. However, if seeing people tortured and dismembered is something that is entertaining, and you can get past a weak plot and subpar acting, this is definitely a movie worth seeing. But if you’re a fan of the series and hoping to see it wrap itself up with a satisfying conclusion, think again.
FINAL GRADE: C
TRR Movie Revue by Bill Ayres
I stopped watching after the first “Saw” and am always surprised to see the torture continue, year after year. And 3D – Gross, I have no desire to spend 15-20 bucks to see that gore any clearer than a regular movie screen.
Bill:
Nice work. Keep em’ coming. Hope all is well. John
Well written, objective and thorough as a good review should be:-)
Nice job!
First movies are always the best-you never see it coming(if it is GOOD)-after that its just sad. I saw the second cause it was on DVD and NOTHING was on TV. I’ll wait for this to end up on Mystery Theatre 2015.