After months of waiting, finally, the franchise finale of Saw hits the big screen! And thanks to IGN for this early review! So before watching the movie you can check the review below! 3D or not 3D?
Saw 3D, promoted as the Final Chapter in the series, picks up where Saw VI left off, with Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) having survived the trap he was put in by Jill (Betsy Russell), albeit with some newfound facial issues. And as you might imagine, Hoffman is none too happy with Jill and has plans for her.
Meanwhile, a man named Bobby (Sean Patrick Flanery) has become famous thanks to surviving one of Jigsaw’s traps, writing a book and going on a shameless self-promotion tour, guided by his media savvy team. This makes Jigsaw none too happy, and soon Bobby finds himself within a new Jigsaw trap, where he must fight for the survival of both himself and those closest to him.
You may notice that I haven’t mentioned Dr. Gordon yet – even though one of the most eagerly anticipated aspects of this film is the return of the main character from the original Saw, played by Cary Elwes. Well, that’s where this film’s problems begin. Elwes, you see, is barely in Saw 3D. He’s in a couple of early scenes (including the crowd-pleasing opening that shows Gordon in the immediate aftermath of the first film), but then he completely disappears from the movie. It seems inevitable that he’ll eventually return by the end, but he certainly has no impact on the story for the abundance of the running time.
Also baffling is how little Jigsaw, the real Jigsaw that is, appears in this film. Yes, John Kramer died in Saw III, but up until now, he’s still had a decent amount of screen time in each sequel, via flashbacks and videos he left behind. This time out, Tobin Bell pretty much has a cameo, so little is he in this movie. In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of a film where the actor with top billing has as little screen time as Bell has here.
As a fan of the series, it was impossible not to be bothered by how little time was spent with either Jigsaw or Gordon, the characters that mean the most to the series at this point. And unfortunately, what we do spend time with doesn’t have much impact. Like Saw III and Saw VI, the main scenario here once again involves a man walking room to room, encountering different people he could potentially save. Having just had a sequel cover this ground again (and do it very well – I found Saw VI to be one of the stronger installments in the series), seeing Bobby go through this type of thing again feels tired at this point.
On top of that, an early sequence, in which Jigsaw has one of his traps conducted in full view of the public, seems to raise the stakes on what Jigsaw is doing. While the scene itself — involving three participants and three buzzsaws — feels somewhat goofy, the idea of the traps being out in the open, on public display, is an edgy next step the movie then immediately retreats from.
How are the traps this time out? Decent, but again, a step down from Saw VI. One, involving having to physically pull a key from a very difficult place, is pretty effective. Another, involving crossing an area where the floor is almost completely gone, adds a nice bit of adventure to the vibe (and gave me flashbacks to Flanery’s days as Indiana Jones). But at the same time, there’s nothing truly memorable in the way Saw III’s rack or Saw VI’s carousal were. One exception: The best trap here is probably the one involving a car and a neat/twisted domino effect caused when it falls from a jack. By the way, I know this is nothing new in this series, but watching Saw 3D, I kept thinking how Jigsaw must have both the brilliance and bank account of Tony Stark, considering how elaborate, specific and complicated these traps are.
The 3D is used as you might expect it to be – which is to say, this is no James Cameron immersive experience. Instead, blades jut out of the screen, and there is some fun had with blood and guts literally shooting forward at several points. As always, Saw is a very visceral experience.
The cast is serviceable. Flanery has his moments as Bobby, who is hiding a secret of his own, while Elwes, in his few moments on screen, chews the scenery a bit. Costas Mandylor has always been a bit of an odd choice as the man who Jigsaw would pick as his successor, coming off more like a hulking henchman than a criminal mastermind – and the fact that here, it Is Hoffman leaving the videos almost the whole time, and not John, only underscores this, as Mandylor doesn’t have the delivery to sell the thoughtful, “You will learn from this,” tone that Tobin Bell brings. Also of note is Chad Donella, giving an amusingly bad performance as IA agent Gibson, who at one point yells at Jill that she’s a crazy, crazy person who is being crazy.
A note about Jill: Saw VI seemed to end with her laying down the gauntlet and rising as a formidable presence of her own, prepared to fight for John’s legacy. That being the case, it’s sad to see her reduced to a running, screaming victim here, who doesn’t seem prepared to face Hoffman at all.
I’m writing a lot of negatives here, so I should say that Saw 3D has its moments, and offers the basics fans of the series enjoy. And it is at least better than the low-point of the series, Saw V. But if this is the last film (though, no shocker, there is a door left open for another installment, should they ever decide to do it), it’s a very weak way to go.
Saw V aside, screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan have done much better work on this series than what they deliver here. And director Kevin Greutert brought a lot more energy and style to Saw VI than he shows in this film. Although maybe that’s to be expected, given Greutert was pretty much forced to direct Saw 3D, while he was in the midst of planning to do a different film, and wrote that the experience was giving him nightmares involving, “the World Trade Center collapsing in slow motion, plane crashes, drownings, other bad s**t.” A situation like that is not normally conducive to very good filmmaking.
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