PREMISE
A sick and desperate John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer, only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable.
THE GOOD STUFF
TOBIN F****** BELL- It’s really funny to think that in all of the time that he’s played the character, he’s never had a chance to be the central focus of a SAW film. It’s very clear that that may have been for a particular reason. Although we know Bell as being menacing (almost entirely because of the Richard Price-esque creepiness of his voice, to be honest) on screen, he gives off everything but that for the vast majority of the running time of this film. Sure, he still is Jigsaw. He still is a horror icon for a reason. But the film takes time to explain why he does what he does. And in those moments, we see a man in great pain. Understandable pain.
And in the process of doing that… The man behind all of the jigsaw tomfoolery we’ve had for the past nine movies kind of becomes… dare I say…. sympathetic? Perhaps understandable? It would have been very easy for Bell to play this as a raving lunatic, but the fact that he goes the complete opposite route of that in his performance is a refreshing take on this whole saw thing.
THE BAD STUFF
ERRORS IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN- The one thing I’ll give credit to when it comes to all of the Saw movies is that, with very few exceptions, the devices used to torture Jigsaw’s victims have always been fair in their design. There have been very few times when a device has been presented, and I, as an audience member, knew that it was impossible to escape, therefore eliminating all tension.
Unfortunately, there are at least two instances in this film where the devices are too smart for their good, and the character has virtually no shot of getting out, leaving very little suspense for the inevitable result. I can count on one hand where this has been the case throughout the previous nine entries. I counted no less than twice and now that I think about it there’s a third one that is debatable.
THE UGLY STUFF
THE 3RD ACT- The third act of this movie is completely reliant on coincidence. Unless it is explained that Jigsaw can actually see the future, there are at least TWO things that happen by sheer luck that are distinctively responsible for the ending of this film in the way it goes.
On top of all that, there are at least two different revelations that are sprung upon the audience that are not explained throughout the course of the movie up until that point. Massive plot holes and contrivances.
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When Halloween ends came out not too long ago, I noted that I loved that it wasn’t going over the same beats that multiple Halloween films over the previous 20 years did before it. The fact that it was different made it that much more refreshing. Saw x is a much more radical reimagining of how to look at this character and this franchise. It is interesting, refreshing, and kind of exciting.
But, like with Halloween ends, Saw X feels like it will be very polarizing. You’re going to run into the same horror connoisseur-type individuals who literally want to see the same things repeatedly. Hardcore traditionalists feel that turning the course of an iconic horror franchise’s trajectory is sacrilegious. As it was with Halloween ends, I have to ask these horror connoisseurs a question… Did you actually like or even respect the previous seven entries of this franchise up until this point? If the answer is no, you should applaud what SAW X does here.
Right?
SAW X is in theaters now.
