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So you know how the plot synopsis for this movie was so bare-bones and everybody thought it was because they didn’t want to spoil anything? Well, the truth is that that’s about as basic as you can actually put the plot, as it’s freakin complicated otherwise. Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has ‘survived’ and moved on from the end of Saw IV (the trap portion of the movie, not the autopsy portion, which is actually never even referenced in this film), and has set himself up to be the Jigsaw case’s savior and be a big hero, even though he’s the new bad guy. The only snag is that Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) has survived and is on to much more than Hoffman likes. So meanwhile, while Hoffman is chasing after Strahm, who is tracing the steps of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and his past victims, another game is going on in which five individuals (including Julie Benz and Meagan Good) have to go through a set of rooms and face a set of traps, one by one.There’s a new director in town, and it does show a bit. There are no fancy camera tricks, transitions, or editing techniques, which is really sad (well, maybe one or so, but that's about it). In fact, there’s even a bit of CGI, which is totally out of the Saw realm. So the usual Saw feel with the cool camera and editing tricks was gone. However, it wasn’t completely bad. It still worked for what it was.
One big negative aspect, however, belongs to the plot. Everything about the movie was either predictable, obvious, or an overall ‘duh’ moment. Most of the revelations or twists in the Saw series are mind-altering experiences that tend to blow you away. Not this time. The twist isn’t anything massively important or mind blowing. It’s just kind of there. And any of the other revelations were so easy to figure out it’s like they weren’t even trying to hide it like the others did. Hell, the opening game lines for the five people practically spells it out for them (and I knew it right away), yet when they figure it out, it’s like some huge ordeal. I don’t know if it’s the movie that was predictable or that it was just the way the story was unfolded that made it too obvious. Maybe a mix of both. Oh… and the thing with Jill was just weird… but I figure that’s something that’ll be explained in the next one.
On the subject of the traps, some of them were pretty cool. Like the trap that introduces the five people was quite inventive, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Most of the others (for the few there were), were somewhat lame, though. Imaginative, sure, but lame.
Yet again, though, the continuity saves the film. This film pulled what it did with the last couple and has just totally gone back to the first, second, and third films and re-shown stuff that fit in so smoothly it was like things were filmed simultaneously. I just loved how everything was connected and how everything just worked together so that a lot of things made even more sense than they did before.
The acting was another notable positive, especially from Tobin Bell (as always). The entire scene/first flashback between him and John/Jigsaw was so amazingly well done… I don’t think there’s any way it could have been done any better. Tobin Bell really is a saving grace of this series. If it weren’t for him and what he and his character brings, these movies would be flat-out terrible.
So after a year of waiting, all I’m doing now it waiting for the final chapter of the series. This one was alright, mostly due to the flashback stuff/continuity that it holds. I was a bit upset that it never referenced the whole autopsy scene (even though that’s what the last movie ended with). But who knows, maybe that scene happens after the events of Saw V, as well (I doubt it, but it’s possible). They referenced Dr. Gordon so much and hinted so many things that I could have sworn it was coming this time around, but alas… maybe they’ll end it with him to go out on a bang. Unfortunately, in order to get there, we had to do this one. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t the best of the series, either. I bet like one of the previous movies, it’ll grow on me after numerous viewing… but until then... yeah. The tagline of the movie was “You’ll never believe how it ends.” Yeah, and I really couldn’t believe it ended like that. It could have done better.
I Am McLovin!
The following segments involve spoilers:
Questions Raised Thus Far:
- 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-); Also, now that we know survivors can also be re-gamed, will Dr. Gordon just be used for another game (Saw II and Saw IV)?
- 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)?
- What is that key to that was around Amanda's neck (Saw III)?
- What the heck was in that box given to Jill (Saw V)?
- 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).
- What's with all the pig stuff?
(John was obsessed with Chinese New Year and made his first victim during the Year of the Pig).
- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now and/or is he still alive?
(He escaped capture, was re-captured, and kept alive to be used in one final game, wherein he died).
- Who is that woman in the flashback?
(John's ex-wife, though then-wife, Jill)
- What was in that envelope that Amanda reads?
(No specifics, but we know that Hoffman wrote it... according to the director, that's all we need to know).
- What happened to Jeff after the end if Saw III?
(He was shot by Agent Strahm immediately afterwards).
- What was with that wax-coated tape?
(John swallowed it so that it could be found during his autopsy in order to begin a new game with Hoffman).
- What happened to Jeff's daughter?
(Hoffman brings her out to safety).
- Is Agent Perez still alive?
(No).
- Was Rigg being set up as a new apprentice and/or is he still alive?
(No... because he's dead).
- What was with that box of glass in one of the flashbacks?
(It was for a 'trap' and/or safety case for Strahm)
- What happened to Agent Strahm since he was locked in the room with Jigsaw's body, though we know Jigsaw is eventually found due to the autopsy?
(He found a door, got put in a trap, saved himself, and was found by the police, along with Jigsaw's body).
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