Saw X (2023)

I think everyone knows what this is about by now, but stay far away from reviews if you’re a complete newcomer to the series. Everyone else will already know what they’re going to get.

Although this is called Saw X, it could easily have been called Saw 1.5. John Kramer aka Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dealing with a cancer diagnosis that seems terminal. There’s hope on the horizon though, a cure mixing therapy and unapproved drugs that means traveling to Mexico. Kramer heads there, pays his money, and starts to hope that he will be cured. As those who have seen the rest of the movies in this series will already know, there’s actually no cure. Realising the whole thing was a scam, Jigsaw plans to play a game with those who have made money preying on people in his situation.

With a number of inventive traps and a handful of potential victims, mainly people who you could easily view as deserving of their fate, Saw X is a satisfying extra instalment in this long-running franchise. There’s some good gore, an attempt to keep this rooted in the convoluted and dense continuity already established, and a finale that reveals a couple of extra details while the familiar music starts to build and overwhelm your sound system.

Director Kevin Greutert seems to be a good choice for helming these movies, having helped to bring things back on track with the previous instalments he directed, and the script, written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, manages to reframe our iconic horror villain as the hero of the hour without making it too intolerable. Despite the actions of various characters in the series, Jigsaw himself has always tried to set up his games with a strict set of rules (the main one being that anyone who survives is free to live their life with a renewed appreciation.

Bell is as good as ever in the main role, helped by the fact that he was already of a certain age when he first played the character, meaning he still looks the same nowadays and just has to cough and look ill in between his deadly lessons in morality. It’s a bit harder for Shawnee Smith, reprising a key role, to look younger than her years, but I appreciate that the makers of the film don’t try anything too silly to signify her youth (e.g. having her skateboard onscreen and talking in tiresome “coolspeak”). Smith does as well as Bell in terms of playing her character in line with how viewers know her from this time period. As for the potential victims, naming them in any kind of order might give an idea of their importance in the grand scheme, which is why I will just name Synnøve Macody Lund, the head of the whole operation and the one that we all know must be due a very special fate before the end credits roll.

The ridiculousness of everything is once again offset by the creativity and nastiness, a few moments here made me properly wince and wish for it to move away from the impressive gore effects, but it’s a shame that the pacing isn’t as good as it needs to be, although that is affected by the foreknowledge and familiarity that most viewers will have, which means a lot of time spent just waiting for the pieces that need moved into place for the grand conclusion. This feels unavoidable, admittedly, but the whole thing could have been streamlined by removing one or two moments of Jigsaw underlining his rules and methodology. And, I will say it, add another one or two victims to keep the blood and gore outweighing the screentime that doesn’t focus on deadly traps.

A good time for Jigsaw fans, even if it’s completely unnecessary and disposable.

7/10

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Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (2021)

When is a Saw movie not a Saw movie? When it's Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, an attempt to get more golden eggs from a goose that should have been killed off about five years ago. And I say this as someone who has tended to enjoy most entries in the series, including Jigsaw (2017).

Chris Rock plays Detective Zeke Banks, a cop who cannot really trust other cops at his precinct. He's been left to fly solo ever since turning in a dirty cop some years ago, but his latest escapade sees the Captain (Marisol Nichols) pairing him up with young Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella). The two soon have their nerve tested when they investigate a crime scene that feels very much like the kind of thing that would have been planned by Jigsaw. But Jigsaw's dead. So who is doing the killing now, and why are they just targeting bad cops? Detective Banks might be more able than most to follow the trail, even if he ends up asking his father (Samuel L. Jackson) some uncomfortable questions about his tenure as Captain.

With Darren Lynn Bousman back in the director's chair (he helmed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Saw movies) and the competent writing team of Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger (who gave us the decent Sorority Row, one of the better remakes, Piranha 3D, and Jigsaw), you'd be forgiven for expecting more from this film than it delivers. These films never hold up to close scrutiny, of course (otherwise every killer has to have perfect timing, in-depth medical knowledge, and access to more real estate than your average billionaire), but if everything moves along well enough, and packs a punch in the final act, then that's okay. Spiral doesn't manage that, which is a shame.

The first problem is how heavily signposted everything is here. As rubbish as I am at spotting twists, I formulated my theory for how this whole thing would play out within about 15-20 minutes. And I was absolutely spot on. Not that the Saw movies have often been impossible to predict, but this feels as if it's a lacklustre ending in search of a trap-filled movie to go before it. It's almost Saw-lite, especially when the victims are people with more reason to be judged than a lot of the previous victims in the series.

The second problem is the cast. I quite like Chris Rock. Not for the lead in a Saw movie though. He's not ever convincing as the tough cop who can do right while so many others are doing wrong, and he's not helped by the fact that the script has him actively putting people in danger just because the bodycount needs to rise. Max Minghella, sorry to say, is someone I have never really warmed to, perhaps due to the characters he tends to play. He's okay here, I guess, but that's only because most people would seem better opposite Rock. And you have Samuel L. Jackson in a main supporting role, doing well enough, but also being underused. Nichols has to work her way through "Movie Police Captain Dialogue 101", but I guess she does what is asked of her well enough. And everyone else is there to either be a red herring, a victim, or both.

There are some decent deaths here, which is what you want from any entry in the series, and a couple of moments should make you wince, but it's also fairly muted, in terms of the really nasty intricacies of each trap. None of the attempts to misdirect viewers work (well, they didn't work for me anyway), some characters are built up only to be discarded by the time it gets to the point where Chris Rock must do everything on his own, and there's even a use of the hyper-editing that feels as if it's bordering on parody.

It's nowhere near as bad as the nadir of the series (which will always be Saw IV to me, but I AM overdue a rewatch of the series), but Spiral just feels like an instalment being steered in a number of wrong directions by people who are well-intentioned, but refusing to double-check their instrumentation and maps.

5/10

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Jigsaw (2017)

As much as I love the Saw series, and I do, my eyes rolled hard when I heard that they were adding to it with one more instalment (for now). Unlike many people, I was very pleased with how the last instalment had attempted to tie up numerous strands and end things on a satisfying note for fans.

Then I discovered that the Spierig brothers (Peter and Michael) were going to be involved, and I've been a fan of almost all of their previous movies. This made me tentatively optimistic. Then I saw the trailer. I was sold.

The plot is exactly what you expect from a Saw movie. A group of people come around and find that they have been unwillingly volunteered to participate in some deadly games. Everyone has a reason to be there, but will any of them be able to survive? Two detectives (Callum Keith Rennie and Cle Bennett) are on the case, and two pathologists (Matt Passmore and Hannah Emily Anderson) start their own investigation, with each party mistrusting the other.

Jigsaw delivers exactly what you want it to deliver. You get some great traps, a number of twists and turns, and editing sleight of hand that tries to keep you in the dark for as long as possible. Of course, part of the fun with these movies now comes from trying to figure out just where the trickery is taking place, not just with the traps but with the structural playfulness and the hidden character motivations. The script, by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (who also gave us the fun of both Piranha 3D and Sorority Row), isn't as clever as it thinks it is. Saw movie scripts seldom are, however, and it works as a gory thriller that at least attempts to avoid being as dumb as possible.

The visual palette feels similar to previous instalments, yet the Spierig brothers even manage to effect some positive changes here. You get the feeling that a lot of the environments are quite dingy, and perhaps covered with blood shed from past victims, but there's also a cool hue to many of the scenes that save it from being as relentlessly dour and murky as some of the other films.

You don't come to these movies for the acting, let's all admit that, but I'm happy to say that nobody stinks up the screen here. Rennie, Bennett, Passmore, and Anderson all have moments of being a bit over the top in acceptable ways, and Laura Vandervoort, Paul Braunstein, Mandela Van Peebles, and Brittany Allen actually do pretty solid work as some of the chosen players.

It's completely unnecessary, often a bit ridiculous, and a bit overly familiar in the many scenes that obviously nod and wink to past deathtraps . . . and I will happily buy a ticket whenever they decide to do another one, especially if it's once again helmed by the talented Spierig brothers.

8/10

Jigsaw is available to buy here.
Americans can get it here.