Post by ch69 on Oct 27, 2008 0:52:08 GMT
Let me start this all off by saying i'm a huge Saw fan. I love the movies and they've become just as much a part of my Halloween season each year as anything else. I felt that up until the third installment, they kept on getting better, but the fourth kinda lost me a little. With Jigsaw and Amanda both dead and this dude Hoffman taking over who I really didn't care for, I was losing interest in the series. And now an entire film of just Hoffman carrying on Jigsaw's work? It didn't sound all that enticing to me. But it really doesn't matter what the plot was cause nothing was gonna keep me from seeing the next installment in the franchise.
And that brings us to Saw 5. The premise of the film is actually quite interesting. It's a cat and mouse game between the new Jigsaw, Hoffman, and fellow detective Strahm. We are shown that Hoffman, following the events of Saw 3, tried to kill off Strahm (in that water box trap you've probably all seen by now) and make it look like Jigsaw did it. But Strahm manages to escape from the trap and throughout the movie he pieces together that Hoffman is the one who's carrying on Jigsaw's legacy. Accordingly, he goes on the hunt for him while Hoffman works on tying up all the loose ends.
Now like I said, I figured the whole franchise died along with Jigsaw and Amanda and didn't expect much from this one. But i'm happy to say it blew my expectations out of the water. It's not an amazing movie, but it's pretty d**n interesting and there's no questioning that it was a fun time. I kinda felt like this one was made to seperate the true Saw fans from the ones who just come to see a gory horror movie around this time of the year. The usual gore of the series is wayyyy toned down and it's mostly background behind the scenes flashback type of stuff, that only true fans would find any enjoyment in. It's essentially a film made by Saw fans for the Saw fans.
But a Saw film without gore? How can that be made for us? That's one of the main reasons we go to see these movies isn't it? Yes, it is. There's hardly any gore in this movie, the body counts pretty low, and every death that does happen pretty much happens off screen. But surprisingly, it didn't bother me. The movie was so interesting and engaging that I almost didn't need to see any gore. I was more interested in all the other stuff. I will say though that when the gore did come, the effects were pretty bad, which is the complete opposite i'd expect from this series. The effects have always been top notch but there's a couple scenes in this one that look real amateur. The traps are also all kinda lame but there's more to this entry than just mindless gore, so again it didn't bother me all that much.
I didn't care for Hoffman going into this one but I can't say I dont care for him anymore. How he became the next Jigsaw is pretty interesting stuff (don't worry, you find out all the answers) and I kinda like the dude now! Strahm, on the other hand, I did not care for. The actor who portrayed him (Scott Patterson) was pretty awful and the character as a whole was just really annoying. There always seems to be one actor in each of the films that stinks it up. Most of the scenes he was in involved him talking to himself and basically explaining everything to us that we just saw, as if we're all dumbasses. There's also enough Jigsaw flashbacks in this one to satisfy but sadly, the movies lacking on the Amanda front. There's a very brief shot of her from the neck down, but that's all we see.
While you do need to have seen all the previous films in the series to understand it all, it's not hard to follow in the least, which was nice. The Saw films have a tendency to sometimes be a bit confusing and it can take a good while after you leave the theatre before you piece it all together but this one was pretty straightforward. And that's surprising given how all over the place it is. We're taken back to stuff from pretty much all of the previous films and, as usual, stuff from in between that we've never seen. They go back to many of the sets of the traps from prior installments, and that's all pretty cool.
So what about this ending? The whole tagline was "You won't believe how it ends." Well, let's just say you will believe how it ends. There's really no twist and it's not shocking in the least but I must say it is pretty cool. The final moments are quite badass and that's all i'll say about that.
One of the best things about going to see a Saw film is discussing it with friends after, is it not? The movies are so in depth and well thought out that it's a lot of fun to pick apart and discuss it all. As my girlfriend pointed out, it's pretty fitting that the killers name is Jigsaw, given how the series is one giant Jigsaw puzzle. I'm still trying to fit all the pieces together, and that's the fun of it. Granted, all the pieces really don't fully fit together and it's more like the filmmakers are drawing over what was already on each little puzzle piece to make them all fit the way they're supposed to, but oh well. It's all in the name of entertainment.
What more can I say. If you love the series, go see this one. Although i'm sure you have already. If you need any more enticing, the Friday the 13th and My Bloody Valentine 3D trailers play beforehand! It's not a perfect movie but they keep on finding a way to make seemingly uninteresting stuff very interesting and make it all work, and for that I applaud the makers of these movies. This could've been the worst movie ever made and i'd still be excited about seeing Saw 6 next year, so that's saying something. Fortunately, this was another good installment and i'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here. Some may feel like this was a watered down version of the others, but I like the new direction they're going with it. You can only show so much blood and guts before it becomes old. Yes, the Saw movies have always been a lot deeper than just blood and guts, but it seems like the focus is being shifted to the more intellectual stuff, and it's refreshing to see. They took a chance and it worked. Although i'm sure many fans will disagree with me. I wish I didn't have to wait a whole year to see the next one! Saw is still alive!
And that brings us to Saw 5. The premise of the film is actually quite interesting. It's a cat and mouse game between the new Jigsaw, Hoffman, and fellow detective Strahm. We are shown that Hoffman, following the events of Saw 3, tried to kill off Strahm (in that water box trap you've probably all seen by now) and make it look like Jigsaw did it. But Strahm manages to escape from the trap and throughout the movie he pieces together that Hoffman is the one who's carrying on Jigsaw's legacy. Accordingly, he goes on the hunt for him while Hoffman works on tying up all the loose ends.
Now like I said, I figured the whole franchise died along with Jigsaw and Amanda and didn't expect much from this one. But i'm happy to say it blew my expectations out of the water. It's not an amazing movie, but it's pretty d**n interesting and there's no questioning that it was a fun time. I kinda felt like this one was made to seperate the true Saw fans from the ones who just come to see a gory horror movie around this time of the year. The usual gore of the series is wayyyy toned down and it's mostly background behind the scenes flashback type of stuff, that only true fans would find any enjoyment in. It's essentially a film made by Saw fans for the Saw fans.
But a Saw film without gore? How can that be made for us? That's one of the main reasons we go to see these movies isn't it? Yes, it is. There's hardly any gore in this movie, the body counts pretty low, and every death that does happen pretty much happens off screen. But surprisingly, it didn't bother me. The movie was so interesting and engaging that I almost didn't need to see any gore. I was more interested in all the other stuff. I will say though that when the gore did come, the effects were pretty bad, which is the complete opposite i'd expect from this series. The effects have always been top notch but there's a couple scenes in this one that look real amateur. The traps are also all kinda lame but there's more to this entry than just mindless gore, so again it didn't bother me all that much.
I didn't care for Hoffman going into this one but I can't say I dont care for him anymore. How he became the next Jigsaw is pretty interesting stuff (don't worry, you find out all the answers) and I kinda like the dude now! Strahm, on the other hand, I did not care for. The actor who portrayed him (Scott Patterson) was pretty awful and the character as a whole was just really annoying. There always seems to be one actor in each of the films that stinks it up. Most of the scenes he was in involved him talking to himself and basically explaining everything to us that we just saw, as if we're all dumbasses. There's also enough Jigsaw flashbacks in this one to satisfy but sadly, the movies lacking on the Amanda front. There's a very brief shot of her from the neck down, but that's all we see.
While you do need to have seen all the previous films in the series to understand it all, it's not hard to follow in the least, which was nice. The Saw films have a tendency to sometimes be a bit confusing and it can take a good while after you leave the theatre before you piece it all together but this one was pretty straightforward. And that's surprising given how all over the place it is. We're taken back to stuff from pretty much all of the previous films and, as usual, stuff from in between that we've never seen. They go back to many of the sets of the traps from prior installments, and that's all pretty cool.
So what about this ending? The whole tagline was "You won't believe how it ends." Well, let's just say you will believe how it ends. There's really no twist and it's not shocking in the least but I must say it is pretty cool. The final moments are quite badass and that's all i'll say about that.
One of the best things about going to see a Saw film is discussing it with friends after, is it not? The movies are so in depth and well thought out that it's a lot of fun to pick apart and discuss it all. As my girlfriend pointed out, it's pretty fitting that the killers name is Jigsaw, given how the series is one giant Jigsaw puzzle. I'm still trying to fit all the pieces together, and that's the fun of it. Granted, all the pieces really don't fully fit together and it's more like the filmmakers are drawing over what was already on each little puzzle piece to make them all fit the way they're supposed to, but oh well. It's all in the name of entertainment.
What more can I say. If you love the series, go see this one. Although i'm sure you have already. If you need any more enticing, the Friday the 13th and My Bloody Valentine 3D trailers play beforehand! It's not a perfect movie but they keep on finding a way to make seemingly uninteresting stuff very interesting and make it all work, and for that I applaud the makers of these movies. This could've been the worst movie ever made and i'd still be excited about seeing Saw 6 next year, so that's saying something. Fortunately, this was another good installment and i'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here. Some may feel like this was a watered down version of the others, but I like the new direction they're going with it. You can only show so much blood and guts before it becomes old. Yes, the Saw movies have always been a lot deeper than just blood and guts, but it seems like the focus is being shifted to the more intellectual stuff, and it's refreshing to see. They took a chance and it worked. Although i'm sure many fans will disagree with me. I wish I didn't have to wait a whole year to see the next one! Saw is still alive!