SAW VI.

Warning: While there are no major spoilers for this installation, there are some mild spoilers for the previous 5 films in this review.

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Anybody who keeps up with this blog knows I'm a fan of the Saw films. I'm one of the few dedicated fans who has yet to give up on the series (and also one of the fans still waiting for the return of Dr. Gordon). I've seen every Saw film on opening night, so I couldn't break the tradition now. I'm honestly not going to bother with a plot description or actor/actress notification, because 1) you should know the general formula of a Saw film by now, 2) if you've been keeping up with the previous films, you'll know where the story currently stands, and 3) the only recognizable actor (outside of the returners) is Family Matters' Darius McCrary, who really only has about less than 5 minutes of screen time anyway.

The last movie got slammed for being too slow. There weren't enough traps. It was too much backstory and too few thrills. So I guess that makes this one the yin to Saw V's yang. If anything, this movie didn't have enough downtime. For the most part, it was trap after trap after trap and very little breathing time. Is that a bad thing? Yes and no. One of the things I love about these movies is the continuing character development and brilliant continuity. Are there flashbacks that continue to show Jigsaw's past and how all the movies are connected? Of course. And actually, you get a better sense of why things happened the way they did through this film. I know you were curious what was in that letter to Amanda in Saw 3... or the box in Saw 5. Well, you find out both in this movie. And so much more. As an end to a second trilogy, this movie could have ended the series. It's not going to, but it could have. It did tie up a lot of loose ends, which was nice to finally have done. Though I'm sorry Gordon fans, he's not back yet. However, they are keeping him in the story by bringing him back up, which continues to make me think they're just keeping his memory fresh for the next film.

Anyway, on to the next subject: the traps. I have to be honest, these were some really inventive traps. The opening one is brutal. Two people separated by a cage with a scale in between them must offer up a certain amount of flesh or else the devices on their heads will drill into their skulls. There's also (my names for the traps) the "Hold Your Breath" trap, the "Hangman" trap, the "Steam Maze" trap, and the "Carousel" trap. And the big mystery trap, the "Acid Cage" trap. I don't think I missed any (besides a special one at the end), but still... they're pretty inventive and suspenseful.

Along with the traps, we gotta talk about gore. Yes, there is blood and guts. The heaviest bits are at the beginning and end, but there is some blood in the middle... just not as full-out as the other two parts. But gore-hounds will love it for sure.

And what's a Saw movie without the twist(s)? The first movie almost literally floored me with its ending. The second one started the multi-twist trend, where one or two twists are obvious, but they're mostly distractions for the "real" twist. The third one was the same as the second (one I figured out, one I didn't). The fourth just confused the heck out of me. And the fifth had a lame ending... because there was no twist. But this sixth one totally comes back in action. I'm not gonna spoil it, but let's just say one is so obvious you can't believe it's a twist, but I think it was really just a distraction for the other one... because that one actually caught me off guard. And I love it when that happens.

The overall movie is pretty good. The acting is average at best, mediocre at worst (with the exception of Tobin Bell, who continues to be outstandingly brilliant). The movie could have used with a bit of slowing down bits, too, to let us breath for a couple minutes. The whole thing had a very chaotic feel to it. One minute, we're seeing this, the next we're seeing something else, and it all zips and zooms around each other that, especially if you're not overly familiar with the previous films, you'll be utterly lost (at least in my opinion). But to me, none of that mattered come the ending. The ending completely made sense of everything, made me realize "oh, so that's what that was about." It's not just chaos for the sake of chaos. There's reason to the madness, which I guess is the theme of the movie. You learn a lot about why Jigsaw is doing what he's doing and why he chose certain people for certain things. Oh, and not to mention there's a really cool ending to it that breaks away from the norm just slightly (and also sets it up for the next movie). I'd say of the second trilogy, it's easily the best of the films (I actually might go as far as to say it's in the top 3 of all 6 films thus far). So my verdict? If the fifth one turned you away from the series, I'd say give the sixth a chance and see if it can pull you back in... at least a little.

A Keanu 'Whoa'

Five Days Of Saw: Saw III.

Again, spoilers ahoy if you haven't seen the previous films.

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I always felt Saw III was one of the more simplistic to explain in the series, but after seeing it yet again, this time with a review in mind, I’ve realized how complicated it actually gets. This movie picks up right where the previous left off (like… exactly), where Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is trapped in the bathroom. Then it switches over to show a few other detectives, including Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Rigg (Lyriq Bent), and Forensic Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) are investigating a new supposed Jigsaw victim, thinking it could be the missing Detective Matthews. But then they aren’t even sure it’s Jigsaw, but instead maybe a copycat, because there would have been no way for the victim to have survived. Enter at least one more (really cool) scene with Detective Kerry, then switch over to Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), a doctor with apparent husband troubles. Well, she gets kidnapped and set up by Jigsaw/John (Tobin Bell) and Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and is told to play a game, which is to keep John alive long enough for yet another person to finish yet another game. Enter Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), an alcoholic who lost his son to, ironically, a drunk driver that didn’t get (according to Jeff) the punishment he deserved. So all of this plays all together while, simultaneously, we are entreated to flashbacks that further explain John’s history, Amanda’s history, and some other things from the first Saw movie.

First I have to talk about the continuity. Love or hate these films, they have some of the best freakin continuity of any film series ever. It’s almost as if each film were done at the same time or with everything in mind, when none of that is true (the only things they had in mind while filming any of these were dealt with things in Saw 3 and 4). But there is some seriously amazing continuity and explanations, which is one reason I completely love this series. It’s not about the traps for me, really, but about the story and the characters and how everything fits together. It’s all like a big jigsaw puzzle (pun intended), with each movie adding another piece to the overall puzzle.

Anyway, about this movie specifically, my opinion is that it’s a few notches below the first. It concentrates more on plot and characters than traps and gore, though there is some intense stuff. It’s more like a mix of the first and second, with heavier influence from the first. Unfortunately, the twists (sans one) were all incredibly easy to figure out. As for the traps themselves, only one of them has ever bugged me, which is the freezer trap. There’s no way she can get into the state she got into like that in such a short amount of time in the predicament she was in (to be vague). It just seemed way too fantastical for me.

Otherwise, the only other comments I have are with the camera and editing again. It’s some really cool stuff. There’s more quick shots like in the first one, and there’s some more one-shot transition scenes, which are really awesome (for instance, toward the beginning, there’s a crime scene area where the camera hangs out around in and goes through, then it goes down the room, through the hall, and ends up in a house and in a bathroom to show Detective Kerry in the bathtub, even though she was just at the crime scene. According to the commentary, she had to run backstage, strip her clothes, and jump into the bathtub in that whole quick bit, just in time for the camera to see her already in the water. Brilliance). So yeah, it’s not as brilliant as the first one, but it’s one of the better ones in the series thus far (in my opinion).

A Keanu 'Whoa'

The following segments involve spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff (Saw, Saw II, and Saw III)?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-) (Saw II)?

- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now (Saw II) and/or is he still alive? (Saw II and Saw III)

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house, and as he's seen running in a flashback near John and a woman (Saw II and Saw III)?

- Who is that woman in the flashback (Saw III)?

- What was in that envelope that Amanda reads (Saw III)?

- What is that key to that was around Amanda's neck (Saw III)?

- What happened to Jeff after the end (Saw III)?

- What happened to Jeff's daughter (Saw III)?

- What was with that wax-coated tape (Saw III)?

Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(Amanda kills him via suffocation).

Five Days Of Saw: Saw II.

Warning: This review contains some spoilers, mostly only if you haven't seen the first one yet.

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What happens when you take a good premise and add a new director/writer to its sequel? In my opinion, you get one of the weakest installments in the series. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is still on the loose, though not due to a lack of trying from Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Rigg (Lyriq Bent), or Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). This time, however, Jigsaw’s newest victim brings Detective Matthews to the forefront, teasing clues in front of his face until he decides to come and find him. And when he finally does, Jigsaw reveals not everything is as easy as just taking him in. In fact, in another room are some security monitors that show a select group of people locked inside a dilapidated old house including previous victim/survivor Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and Detective Matthews’ son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen). The people in the house have three hours until the front doors open; unfortunately, they only have two hours to live with a deadly neuro-toxin coursing through their bodies, though the antidotes are spread throughout the house (within various traps). But if Detective Eric Matthews wants to see his son again, all Jigsaw wants him to do is sit and have a little chat. It’s too bad the detective has a bit of an anger issue and finds that a bit harder than anticipated.

As I said, I feel that Saw II is one of the weakest installments in the series thus far. And when most people think of the Saw films, their minds always seem to think more along the lines of this movie than the first. The reason for that is because this movie deals more with the traps and gore than it does with plot and character. Each character in the house, with the exception of Amanda and to an extent Daniel, is a very flat character with no real given story. Detective Matthews is at least somewhat complex, or else he would be had he not continually resorted to violence over and over again and had no real character growth (though, technically, that’s the entire point, so I can’t really fuss on that). I think the only reason the movie is still enjoyable is because Leigh Whannell stuck around as a co-writer and executive producer/advisor (I believe former director James Wan stuck around as an executive producer, as well).

And even though this movie is far more disturbing/bloody than the previous, its traps are still only few and far between. All the traps shown are really just the opening Venus flytrap, the gun, the furnace, the needle pit, and the hand trap (and in essence, the house itself and its inhabitance could also be considered traps). The only one to show any blood are the first two and the last one (and the coughing caused by the toxin, but that’s nothing), and even those are relatively mild due to zippy editing. Though there is a bit of weaponry used, too, but still…

And speaking of editing, this movie still does it very well, even with a new director. In fact, this new director makes use of even more interesting camera transitions and whatnot, where an actor can start on one set and end up on another without the camera cutting. I know he tries to do it at least a couple times in each movie, and I think that’s really cool. However, on the brief subject of music, I think the Saw theme wasn’t used to its advantage here and was used in the wrong spot of the film.

And then there are the twists. There are three of them in this movie, and I remember figuring out two of the three in theater. The one that I thought was the cleverest (because it’s the one I didn’t figure out) was the one involving Daniel, but I won’t go into specifics, just in case.

I know I’m speaking quite negatively about this one, but I don’t hate it. The acting is good, especially with Tobin Bell. He acts circles around everybody else in the entire series, and I think the whole thing would fail epically without him. I just think that the movie should have focused more on character and plot, like they did in the first film, instead of focusing on the traps and gore. Fortunately, there was a Saw III to fix this up… but until then, I was stuck with Saw II.

I Am McLovin!

Other reviews:
Here is a review by a fellow blogger who shares my sentiments (and more) on this film. Be cautioned, though... his review is a lot more spoilerific than mine, as it's along the lines of a comedic summary: Invasion of the B Movies: Saw II.

The following segments involve spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff (Saw and Saw II)?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-) (Saw II)?

- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now (Saw II)?

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house (Saw II)?

Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(We know he dies, but are unsure how).

Five Days Of Saw: Saw.

It was a movie that started a franchise; a film that I felt was so freakin predictable that I was blown out of my seat by it’s stunning ending. Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell) wake up in a grungy, filthy bathroom, chained by their ankles on opposite ends, and with a body in the middle of the room in a puddle of blood and a gun in his hand. They discover that they’re in a game set up by Jigsaw, a man who sets ungrateful people up in fatal traps/situations in order to get them to further appreciate life to its fullest. Along for the ride are the paranoid Detective Tapp (Danny Glover), the hospital orderly Zep (Michael Emerson), Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Sing (Ken Leung), and a list of other victims, including survivor Amanda (Shawnee Smith). But the current situation shows Dr. Gordon and Adam that they have until a certain time to follow the rules set up, and the rules are thus: Dr. Gordon’s wife and daughter are being held captive, and if he wants to be set free and see them again, he must find a way to kill Adam before time runs out. And how can he get free if he needs to? Well, there’s a pair of hacksaws that can be used to cut off your foot and set you free…

When I first saw this movie, I thought I had it figured out before I even reached the halfway point. I thought it was going to end like every other Hollywood horror movie, wherein the twist at the end was overly simple to figure out, the good guys would get free, and everything would end just fine. Boy was I wrong. Not only did nothing end happily ever after, but the twist ending quickly joined what I feel is the top five twist endings of all time.

The movie is in no way, shape, or form torture porn, as most ignorantly label it. Hell, it’s only moderately gorier than your weekly episodes of CSI. The traps in this movie are pretty tame, especially in comparison to the later movies. And it isn’t killing for the sake of killing. Jigsaw is actually a pretty well thought-out character (again, especially as shown in the later films), and he only sets traps up for people who are wasting away their lives in order to teach them appreciation and self-respect. This movie is intelligent horror, not brainless blood and death.

The acting is usually the wobbly ground for most people. Either Cary Elwes or Leigh Whannell are the big complaints, but I personally didn’t see any major issues with either of them. And for two guys with thick foreign accents (British and Australian, respectively), they both held American accents nicely (though if you pay close attention to the opening scenes, you can hear Leigh break accent once or twice). I also think Michael Emerson can play a really intense character no matter what he’s doing (see: LOST).

And then there’s the cinematography and music. The way the camera is used in these films, along with editing techniques, is like an art form (well… it is… but you know what I mean). From the intensity of the Reverse Bear Trap scene with Amanda to the now patented “Seizure flashback” that occurs at the end of each film, the camera/editing is done masterfully. Coincidentally, as I write this, the main Saw theme started playing on my playlist, just in time for me to bring up the music! The main theme is now classic, to me. It’s even being used in other film trailers (much like another modern classic theme from another movie, Requiem for a Dream). I really adore this theme song, from it’s slow build to it’s huge crescendo, increasing and increasing further until the massive shocking end, then BAM, it ends, just like the film. Thank you Charlie Clouser for creating such a hauntingly amazing theme.

So overall, this is one of my favorite horror/suspense films. It has a great story, great cinematography, great editing, great music, and a great ending. There’s really not much else I can say about this first film. I really recommend it.

Royale With Cheese

The following segment involves spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do?

- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon?

- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?