Rating: 2.5/5
CW // Blood, Viscera, Torture, Murder, Animal Killing, Vomit
Jigsaw has imprisoned Detective Eric Matthews in the Saw™️ bathroom. The room is pitch black, save for his flashlight. He looks around and sees dead bodies. Then, he spots the titular saw™️ and a severed foot rotting in an ankle cuff. Rather than saw his foot off, he uses the toilet seat to break his foot so he can slide it out of the chain.
Meanwhile, a SWAT team led by Officer Rigg discovers the scene of a Jigsaw game with the scattered remnants of a human body. In this trap, the victim had to rip chains from his body to escape a bomb. Unlike previous Jigsaw traps, however, escape was impossible, even following the rules. The abductor had welded the door shut.
Detective Kerry arrives, hoping it is Eric — at least she could have closure. At night, she sees his face, haunted by his inability to save him. Kerry stays up, watching the recovered tape from the trap. A pig-masked assailant captures her and traps her in a room glowing Jigsaw’s Signature Trap Green™️.
Kerry follows the instructions, retrieving a key from a beaker of acid. But it does not free her from the trap. A person in red walks into the room, their face obscured. “You,” Kerry whimpers before the trap rips the skin from her torso.
Why has John Kramer, aka JIGSAW, changed his pattern? Or is someone else taking the reins? If you remember the previous movie, you know who took over.
I haven’t seen Saw I or II since they came out, so I don’t know if my opinions about the previous movies would change.
This color grading is outrageous — it’s like Tony Scott on downers — but that was 2006 for you.
I appreciate the practical effects! Some aren’t top-tier, but they enhance the intensity. The traps are so bonkers — I don’t remember if they’re more outrageous than anything from the previous films, but it feels like it.
This movie is the one that introduces a full-blown plot and continuity. Screenwriter Leigh Whannel created a twisted father-daughter story between John and Amanda. As a result, the movie chases emotional impact over mondo twists.
The movie has one of the more straightforward traps — save this woman who witnessed your son’s murder or don’t. It’s the most overt morality choice from the franchise thus far. It’s also the most exploitative, with the woman naked and the camera keeping her body in the frame.
The “rotting pigs in the grinder” trap is so disgusting that it’s funny. Similarly, the skull surgery scene is visceral as fuck.
This has long bouts of truly boring nothing — circular arguments and people wandering.
Shawnee Smith kills it as Amanda — she’s the best part of this movie.
Overall, it adds up to nothing exciting, but not as bad as I remember the second movie.