Against my better judgment, desperate to see a horror that wasn't "30 Days of Midnight" (which I'd already saw), I decided to give the "Saw" franchise another look by partaking in this sequel. It was a stretch you see, because I think after the first one, the movies went way downhill. Of course, I didn't realize how badly they'd gone downhill until I saw this one.
This is not the most grotesque of these films, although the autopsy at the beginning of the film is enough to make you lose your lunch, popcorn, or whatever. Naturally a tape is found, reminding the police that the game is just beginning.
This in itself begs the question: why exactly are the police the targets of Jigsaw's "games?" This was a man whose past victims included a man who wanted to die, a swindler, a drug addict, an apathetic young man, an uncaring doctor and criminals in general. So why does Jigsaw have it in for the cops? Okay, the shady cop is one that made sense- but why the others? Who knows? I don't think they care anymore.
But wait...is it really Jigsaw at all? He died in the last one- the said autopsy is proof of that. Well anyone who saw Saw 2 or 3 knows where this is going- even a child could figure out that its not Jigsaw anymore, but one of his "students."
To illustrate how ridiculous this film gets, in the final scene you see the man from the third movie, still looking for his daughter and the remains of the Doctor who got her head blown off. As Jigsaw died in this room, along with his initial student, why exactly wouldn't the coroners actually take the Doctor's body? Why would this man still be running around, looking for his daughter? Are the rest of the bodies still littering the building?
Of course, if you've seen any of the other three Saw movies, you realize there is a gory aftermath, which is inevitably followed by a rehashing of ALL the events that have happened, proving that everything is interconnected.
Lets face it...the rehashing in itself is meant to say to the audience "see, you didn't notice how all of this is intertwined," however how many times can this finale play over and over again before it simply patronizing? How about giving your audience some credit? We've been down this road three times before- if you're going to change the direction of the films, then do it in a way that doesn't rely on a cheap retelling of events that would make Aesop recoil in agony!
If you're a "torture porn" fan, there will be plenty of gore and torture for you to indulge in, and no doubt "Saw V" will be out Halloween 2008. If you're looking for a good movie however, you'd best try your luck with "30 Days of Night." Enough of this franchise- it is just getting dumber and dumber.
This is not the most grotesque of these films, although the autopsy at the beginning of the film is enough to make you lose your lunch, popcorn, or whatever. Naturally a tape is found, reminding the police that the game is just beginning.
This in itself begs the question: why exactly are the police the targets of Jigsaw's "games?" This was a man whose past victims included a man who wanted to die, a swindler, a drug addict, an apathetic young man, an uncaring doctor and criminals in general. So why does Jigsaw have it in for the cops? Okay, the shady cop is one that made sense- but why the others? Who knows? I don't think they care anymore.
But wait...is it really Jigsaw at all? He died in the last one- the said autopsy is proof of that. Well anyone who saw Saw 2 or 3 knows where this is going- even a child could figure out that its not Jigsaw anymore, but one of his "students."
To illustrate how ridiculous this film gets, in the final scene you see the man from the third movie, still looking for his daughter and the remains of the Doctor who got her head blown off. As Jigsaw died in this room, along with his initial student, why exactly wouldn't the coroners actually take the Doctor's body? Why would this man still be running around, looking for his daughter? Are the rest of the bodies still littering the building?
Of course, if you've seen any of the other three Saw movies, you realize there is a gory aftermath, which is inevitably followed by a rehashing of ALL the events that have happened, proving that everything is interconnected.
Lets face it...the rehashing in itself is meant to say to the audience "see, you didn't notice how all of this is intertwined," however how many times can this finale play over and over again before it simply patronizing? How about giving your audience some credit? We've been down this road three times before- if you're going to change the direction of the films, then do it in a way that doesn't rely on a cheap retelling of events that would make Aesop recoil in agony!
If you're a "torture porn" fan, there will be plenty of gore and torture for you to indulge in, and no doubt "Saw V" will be out Halloween 2008. If you're looking for a good movie however, you'd best try your luck with "30 Days of Night." Enough of this franchise- it is just getting dumber and dumber.