Movie Review: ‘SAW 3D’

The Saw franchise is the most successful horror franchise in film history, yet it doesn’t come without its critics.  Unfortunately for the series, the majority of the cynics (mostly horror fans) seem to grow with each passing film.  Since 2004, a new Saw film has been released every year showcasing new traps, new victims, and eventually new killers.  Before I go into my critique of the seventh film in the controversial series, Saw 3D, I would like to preface that I have seen all of the films in theaters.  Not only that, I am actually a fan of parts 1-3 and was pleasantly surprised with part 6.  Like most Saw fans, I did not care for parts 4 and 5.  Though one can say that all of the films are watchable, none of the sequels have come near to the level of quality that the original still stands on. Now that you know that I am not a “die-hard” fan of the series, nor a complete hater of the torture films, let’s get into what Lionsgate is saying will be “The Final Chapter” of the series.

Saw 3D is centered on two central story lines.  Bobby Dagen is a self-help “survivor” of one of Jigsaw’s attacks.  Through book-signings, TV interviews, and support groups, Dagen has constructed a group of fellow “survivors” that hang on the man’s every word.  The other story line follows Jigsaw’s wife, as she leads a young hotshot detective towards catching Jigsaw’s successor, Detective Hoffman.  If you watched or remember the sixth film, Hoffman survives Jigsaw’s wife’s trap at the end of that film and now evidently wants revenge.  When Dagen and many of his followers are captured and thrown into a series of traps, blood and guts are thrown at the screen in eye-popping 3D.

If you want to know the plain and simple truth: I hated this film!  It is without a doubt the worst film in the entire series.  Like I said earlier, this is coming from a guy that enjoys more than half of the unnecessary sequels that have been made.  Though the 3D is effectively used in many instances, it is not even close to helping this dreadful film.  One of the elements that helped the earlier films was the flashbacks involving Jigsaw.  Even though they led to many questions and fits of confusion, the flashbacks always had great scenes of actor Tobin Bell explaining his personal philosophy.  Here, you have Jigsaw in maybe 5 minutes in the entire film.  Although the films are more focused on the traps, which have gotten to be repetitive and outlandish, the films have always had interesting characters with equally acceptable dialogue.  Saw 3D has the worst acting, the worst dialogue, and the worst story structure of all the films combined.  Numerous times the audience was left laughing as our new hotshot detectives struck poses and spat out lines like, “This is called a safe house. That means you are going to be safe.”  Even the traps in this one become laughable.  Many of them are so complex, that they literally morph into these machines that defy any sense of logic.  Other times the traps are direct rip-off of traps seen in previous films (the furnace trap in part 2 is replicated here but in a more grandiose way).  One of the few scenes that did evoke some sense of fear and interest in me, was a scene where Dagen has to guide a blind-folded “follower” across a series of beams high above a gaping hole in the floor.  It is the simplicity of this trap that makes it so effective in the film.  This is what I feel is the biggest downfall to the entire series.  The traps have become too convoluted and too complicated.  Think about the first Saw film.  You had two guys trapped in a room.  Other than that, you had a guy that had to crawl through barbwire and a girl that had to cut open a guy to remove a key. Think about how simple these premises are!!! What is great about all of these scenarios is that they are all relatable.  An audience member can put those things in perspective because they seem more realistic.  No one is going to be able to relate to some of these more mechanically advanced robotic traps that would take someone more than seven years to be able to build in the first place.  Not to mention if you don’t give good dialogue and an interesting motive to these people in these traps (I am talking to you, opening scene in the public square), than your audience of horror geeks (the few that are still remaining) is really not going to get behind it.

I am so frustrated with this film if it really is “The Final Chapter” to Jigsaw’s saga.  My biggest complaint is that this film adds nothing to the Saw universe. Sure, the gore is great, but there is nothing else that holds this film up. The writers and the studio had an opportunity to get creative and do something risky and provoking, yet the result is so similar to the third film … and the fourth film … and the fifth film … and the sixth film.  The “shocking” ending tries to leave the audience wanting more.  Unfortunately for the filmmakers, they couldn’t have broadcast the twist anymore clearly. If this really is the way they want to end the series, then I say good riddance. We will be better off next year without spending $13.50 on a regurgitated piece of 3D trash.  If you are a Saw fan … there’s a good chance you might not be after this one. Hopefully the game really is over.