[Once
again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for
the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The
Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded (usually with the
help of a few other writers). Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can
pull it off this year.]
I’m gonna’ keep this one relatively short, because honestly
there’s not a whole lot to delve into with JIGSAW.
Did you like the SAW movies? Were
you disappointed that the series supposedly ended with the unconvincingly
titled SAW: THE FINAL CHAPTER? Then
you may well enjoy this sequel/reboot of the franchise. And if you’re one of
those folks who wrote the films off as torture porn, you can stop reading now,
because nothing much has changed.
Jigsaw/John Kramer (Tobin Bell) has been dead since the
third installment of the series, the trick is somehow managing to bring the
character back in each new film without actually
bringing him back. After all, Jigsaw isn’t some supernatural entity like Freddy
or Jason. Or is he?
Because once again Jigsaw is playing his games with a group
of morally compromised people. Gruesomely mutilated bodies are starting to pile
up. Detective Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) suspects one or both of the
medical investigators who have autopsied the latest victims - Eleanor (Hannah
Emily Anderson), who in her spare time collects Jigsaw memorabilia, and Logan
(Matt Passmore), an Iraq war vet whose wife was killed in a home invasion.
Detective Keith Hunt (Clé Bennett) has other suspicions.
The film cuts between the investigation and a group of
people trying to escape Jigsaw’s latest batch of devious traps. All they have
to do is confess their sins, but of course they don’t. And so we’re treated to a number of
spectacularly gory demises before the game (and the movie) runs its course. There
is a, of course, a surprise twist that isn’t all that much of a surprise. Also,
of course, further sequels are set up.
Nothing in this movie will come as a surprise to anyone familiar
with the franchise. It is the very definition of formulaic. The direction by The
Spierig Brothers is competent and somewhat stylish, but not enough to transform
the by-the-numbers script from Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger into something
interesting enough to warrant watching by any but the most devoted fans of the
series. It’s okay, but honestly, there have to be better things you could be
doing with 90 minutes of your time.
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