*** These comments contain spoilers. Skip ahead to avoid spoilers. *** For the last few weeks, I've been reading people's comments (here and elsewhere) about what they heard would happen in this movie. Even the blurb in this morning's newspaper (which admitted that the reviewer hadn't seen the movie) made claims about what was supposed to happen.
Very little, if any, of what I've heard was true. While I'm not one to believe much of what I hear of rumors, I walked into the theater thinking that SOMETHING I've heard must be true.
Nope.
Contrary to rumor, many die. Contrary to rumor (printed in a major newspaper), we don't learn a darn thing about the Billy puppet. Contrary to rumor...
And my back-of-the-head belief that some of the rumors would be true is what allowed me to very much enjoy this one.
If you've read any review (from someone that has actually seen it), you know that there is no major plot twist. I figured out how it was going to end when the final scene was being set up (and I'm terrible at figuring out endings).
And yet, I still felt surprised by the film.
*** Spoilers end here. The following should be fairly spoiler-free, if you've already seen the other 4 films. Skip this if you haven't see them. *** The movie centers around the revelation (Saw IV) that Hoffman is involved with Jigsaw. There are basically two stories: Hoffman working to cover up this information and the story of a bunch of people brought together to play a Saw II-style group "game." The part of the movie that matters most is the Hoffman story. While we learn little new about John Kramer, we learn why Hoffman is involved (the film's only real twist, which doesn't measure up to any of the twists in the prior films, happens relatively early). We get a deeper feeling for John as a man, and this is the first time we see him acting "human" since the miscarriage/cancer. Unfortunately, I felt that giving him this level of humanity comes off the wrong way, making him out to be Jesus (some of the advertising for this movie was based on this notion).
The other story, of a group of people brought for a series of Jigsaw games due to a commonality, is weak. Unlike Saw II, which centers around a group of people playing games with various traps while trying to solve an overall mystery, the story here seems to be thrown in only to make this a Saw movie. Without it, the main story line is really like any other police thriller.
The overall game being played by the group is a good one, but it's not really explored enough. The individual traps are more similar to those of Saw II, where they appear as potentially deadly games instead of torture devices. The players are asked how to best play the games, not how to hurt themselves or others (kind of).
In the end, I enjoyed this significantly more than Saw III (which was just too depressing, particularly because I have children) and Saw IV (which was confusing and was over-the-top in gore). I was happy to see most of the questions coming out of Saw IV answered, although I was disappointed to see that some of my lingering questions from Saw III go without resolution (I fear they never will be). It was pleasing to see how they were able to tie bits from all 4 previous films together, as if Saw V's script had been written prior to the others.
There is plenty of blood (it plays a new starring role in one scene) and plenty of crime scene photos. And yet, with the exception of the end of the film's opening scene and one scene at the end, I didn't have to look away at any point. In other words, unlike IV (which grossed me out at times), it made me cringe, but it never went overboard.
I walked away feeling satisfied with the ending, despite it not being surprising or a twist. But I also walked away feeling mad that I'd have to wait another year before the next one, just so that I could find out what was in that box. I suspect there's more to Jill than we know. I worry that there are no big secrets left from Saw III.
All in all, if you like the series, you'll enjoy this. It's no longer good "torture porn" and the morality play is getting old. But it has all the basic elements you'd want from a Saw movie. And, if nothing else, it gives us a reason to go back to see Saw VI.
Which, I hope, is the last one. I look forward (please!) to a wonderful final climax that answers all our questions, but leaves us so shocked that we're upset that there won't be another.
Very little, if any, of what I've heard was true. While I'm not one to believe much of what I hear of rumors, I walked into the theater thinking that SOMETHING I've heard must be true.
Nope.
Contrary to rumor, many die. Contrary to rumor (printed in a major newspaper), we don't learn a darn thing about the Billy puppet. Contrary to rumor...
And my back-of-the-head belief that some of the rumors would be true is what allowed me to very much enjoy this one.
If you've read any review (from someone that has actually seen it), you know that there is no major plot twist. I figured out how it was going to end when the final scene was being set up (and I'm terrible at figuring out endings).
And yet, I still felt surprised by the film.
*** Spoilers end here. The following should be fairly spoiler-free, if you've already seen the other 4 films. Skip this if you haven't see them. *** The movie centers around the revelation (Saw IV) that Hoffman is involved with Jigsaw. There are basically two stories: Hoffman working to cover up this information and the story of a bunch of people brought together to play a Saw II-style group "game." The part of the movie that matters most is the Hoffman story. While we learn little new about John Kramer, we learn why Hoffman is involved (the film's only real twist, which doesn't measure up to any of the twists in the prior films, happens relatively early). We get a deeper feeling for John as a man, and this is the first time we see him acting "human" since the miscarriage/cancer. Unfortunately, I felt that giving him this level of humanity comes off the wrong way, making him out to be Jesus (some of the advertising for this movie was based on this notion).
The other story, of a group of people brought for a series of Jigsaw games due to a commonality, is weak. Unlike Saw II, which centers around a group of people playing games with various traps while trying to solve an overall mystery, the story here seems to be thrown in only to make this a Saw movie. Without it, the main story line is really like any other police thriller.
The overall game being played by the group is a good one, but it's not really explored enough. The individual traps are more similar to those of Saw II, where they appear as potentially deadly games instead of torture devices. The players are asked how to best play the games, not how to hurt themselves or others (kind of).
In the end, I enjoyed this significantly more than Saw III (which was just too depressing, particularly because I have children) and Saw IV (which was confusing and was over-the-top in gore). I was happy to see most of the questions coming out of Saw IV answered, although I was disappointed to see that some of my lingering questions from Saw III go without resolution (I fear they never will be). It was pleasing to see how they were able to tie bits from all 4 previous films together, as if Saw V's script had been written prior to the others.
There is plenty of blood (it plays a new starring role in one scene) and plenty of crime scene photos. And yet, with the exception of the end of the film's opening scene and one scene at the end, I didn't have to look away at any point. In other words, unlike IV (which grossed me out at times), it made me cringe, but it never went overboard.
I walked away feeling satisfied with the ending, despite it not being surprising or a twist. But I also walked away feeling mad that I'd have to wait another year before the next one, just so that I could find out what was in that box. I suspect there's more to Jill than we know. I worry that there are no big secrets left from Saw III.
All in all, if you like the series, you'll enjoy this. It's no longer good "torture porn" and the morality play is getting old. But it has all the basic elements you'd want from a Saw movie. And, if nothing else, it gives us a reason to go back to see Saw VI.
Which, I hope, is the last one. I look forward (please!) to a wonderful final climax that answers all our questions, but leaves us so shocked that we're upset that there won't be another.