Reviewed by Alicia Glass
Review Rating: 7 Circular Saws
Warning! Spoiler Review!
The supposed final installation of the ever-popular Saw series culminates in the on-going plans of Jigsaw, carried out by his victims and ever expanding circle of helpers and converts.
Hmm. There were a lot of things I didn’t like, and only two real scenes I did. Got that? Two whole scenes. I know, I know, John Kramer is dead and has been since Saw III – they still manage to wrangle Tobin Bell into every movie since then, even if it’s for just one of those clarifying moments as a Jigsaw revelation. Which is exactly what we get in this last movie, a moment of a Jigsaw revelation and that’s all. *Sigh* We knew Amanda didn’t have what it took to carry on Jigsaw’s work, and Hoffman is just plain crazy. But, if you’ve kept up with the previous movies, we all know that quite often when Jigsaw teaches a victim a lesson, they become a convert to his Way, right? Same thing happened here. And while we knew, or at least suspected, that the movie-Gods would bring back Dr. Gordon from the very first movie and have him as a convert, he doesn’t fill Jigsaw’s legacy either. Noone does, that’s kind of the point. The Zen of Jigsaw is something everyone should experience in some way, which leads to the rant about the traps.
There was absolutely no reason for this film to be in 3D. For the scenes where there’s no moving machine parts or flying body parts to scream out of the screen at you, it’s just the actors wandering about, it just gives me a headache. And I’m sorry to say that, even when the traps are being shown and people are dying, they didn’t 3D the machine parts or anything like that, it’s only the flying blood and gooey what is that, pig intestines? that get the proper 3D treatment. I realize Saw is now a franchise, all the way up to #7 that is, but still, the 3D wasn’t necessary at allll.
Annnnd then there’s the plot. Sean Patrick Flannery, of Boondock Saints fame, takes his turn in the hotseat for this Saw. It’s not bad, considering Bobby Dagen is a lying idiot, claiming to be survivor of a Jigsaw trap and coasting on the fame of that. The traps he has to go through amused me too, the Saw series finally managed to legitimately work its way through “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. And this is the only storyline that gives Tobin Bell his cameo in this movie, it made me cackle. But most of the rest of the plot is just filler – what happens to Hoffman hunting down Jill Tuck, Dr. Gordon speaking at the survivors of Jigsaw meeting where Simone from Saw VI is sporting a fake arm and a lot of anger, and a few gruesome traps sprung to bad-doers that don’t seem to do anything for the storyline other than stall the cops.
The idea of a “we’ve come full circle” ending is fine, they tried really hard to bring that across, and I think they managed it mostly. But honestly, if it really is to be the very last Saw movie, I personally think John Kramer deserved better. Jigsaw (Saw VII) gets a rating of 7 circular saws.