Well there we have it folks! The ending to the Saw series! Well at least for the moment, until Lionsgate decide to announce an eighth film, or until some rookie director decides to re-boot the series in a few years' time. The yearly days of seeing bloody gratuitous violence invade our screens are finally over. As for me, I'm a die hard fan of Saw since the first film, but the most recent movies don't have the same depth as the original three movies, where Tobin Bell's character actually had a lot of meaning, whereas he is mostly (and mysteriously) re-used in every film, even four years after the character's death. Coming from the point of view of a Saw fan, this review will probably contain spoilers from this film and the other Saw movies, so if you haven't seen the movies, I recommend you click away from this review.
I was a bit skeptical upon entering the auditorium from Saw 3D (or Saw VII depending if you're viewing the movie in 3D or not), partly because of Rotten Tomatoes' consensus saying it was the worst movie of the series. Is it the worse? No. I found Saw V (2008) to be pretty bad, but still I found a way to like it. Saw 3D is a bit better than Saw V, but otherwise, it's the second worst movie of the franchise. Perhaps I was expecting too much out of Kevin Greutert, who had given us the incredible Saw VI last year. This year, his film is mostly sloppily directed and, for the most part, badly acted. Sean Patrick Flannery, Chad Donella and Laurence Anthony give borderline acceptable performances, while the rest of the actors are just plain bad. Cary Elwes and Tobin Bell give the best performances, but expect their characters not to be used more than 5 minutes each.
The traps I felt were very unoriginal. Besides for the opening trap and the closing trap, the traps in between were uninspired. I mean, am I the only one to believe that trap number one and trap number two resembled themselves a little? The spikes looked a lot the same, and really, it's a good thing that the challenges for main character Bobby varied a little because the traps looked no different from one another. The trap with Chester Bennington was unbelievably unrealistic. Another thing that bugged me was Gibson's character. He was unnecessary to the franchise, it just felt that the scriptwriters threw him in only to kill him afterwards, as if to say that by the end of this film, the Saw series will have killed all possible cops and have dealt with all the possible characters. I felt bad for Donella, because he really tried to make Gibson likable. The 3D was also lack luster, being used in the opening scene and on three other occasions in the film, none of them being more than five seconds each.
The good parts? Well the seventh Saw film shows us a pretty good ending twist to the whole franchise. Gordon's character might be used only five minutes, but he does play a HUGE part in the film despite very little screen time. The film seems to take us back in time by showing us clips from all six previous instalments, showing us familiar locations such as the infamous bathroom with Xavier and Adam's rotting corpses, and a familiar foot seems to be in there as well. The image is also beautiful, only because of the 3D (the screen is HD if you are viewing a real-D 3D projection). The opening trap is pretty exciting, and some of the dialogue (rarely) is actually pretty amazing as well. But of all of the positive points, the ending is the best. You will not believe how much I enjoyed it! There is also a few hidden messages for the fans only, like when Hoffman kills the cops (meaning Hoffman was not a real Jigsaw killer since Jigsaw had never really killed anybody, while the ''Reconstructing your life'' door has an effect on the poster, where Jigsaw is being rebuilt on a construction site.
So final view? Saw 3D feels a bit rough over the edges, but overall, I enjoyed it and I had a good time. The seventh instalment might not be the best, but it offers an impressing twist and a couple of exciting traps. The series, now being an excuse to show bloodbaths and torture scenes, might have lost some of it's queasiness. But overall, whether you are disappointed by the final movie, or if you enjoyed it, when Hello Zepp plays for the final time in theatres, you should be sitting in your seat with a smile on your face.
I was a bit skeptical upon entering the auditorium from Saw 3D (or Saw VII depending if you're viewing the movie in 3D or not), partly because of Rotten Tomatoes' consensus saying it was the worst movie of the series. Is it the worse? No. I found Saw V (2008) to be pretty bad, but still I found a way to like it. Saw 3D is a bit better than Saw V, but otherwise, it's the second worst movie of the franchise. Perhaps I was expecting too much out of Kevin Greutert, who had given us the incredible Saw VI last year. This year, his film is mostly sloppily directed and, for the most part, badly acted. Sean Patrick Flannery, Chad Donella and Laurence Anthony give borderline acceptable performances, while the rest of the actors are just plain bad. Cary Elwes and Tobin Bell give the best performances, but expect their characters not to be used more than 5 minutes each.
The traps I felt were very unoriginal. Besides for the opening trap and the closing trap, the traps in between were uninspired. I mean, am I the only one to believe that trap number one and trap number two resembled themselves a little? The spikes looked a lot the same, and really, it's a good thing that the challenges for main character Bobby varied a little because the traps looked no different from one another. The trap with Chester Bennington was unbelievably unrealistic. Another thing that bugged me was Gibson's character. He was unnecessary to the franchise, it just felt that the scriptwriters threw him in only to kill him afterwards, as if to say that by the end of this film, the Saw series will have killed all possible cops and have dealt with all the possible characters. I felt bad for Donella, because he really tried to make Gibson likable. The 3D was also lack luster, being used in the opening scene and on three other occasions in the film, none of them being more than five seconds each.
The good parts? Well the seventh Saw film shows us a pretty good ending twist to the whole franchise. Gordon's character might be used only five minutes, but he does play a HUGE part in the film despite very little screen time. The film seems to take us back in time by showing us clips from all six previous instalments, showing us familiar locations such as the infamous bathroom with Xavier and Adam's rotting corpses, and a familiar foot seems to be in there as well. The image is also beautiful, only because of the 3D (the screen is HD if you are viewing a real-D 3D projection). The opening trap is pretty exciting, and some of the dialogue (rarely) is actually pretty amazing as well. But of all of the positive points, the ending is the best. You will not believe how much I enjoyed it! There is also a few hidden messages for the fans only, like when Hoffman kills the cops (meaning Hoffman was not a real Jigsaw killer since Jigsaw had never really killed anybody, while the ''Reconstructing your life'' door has an effect on the poster, where Jigsaw is being rebuilt on a construction site.
So final view? Saw 3D feels a bit rough over the edges, but overall, I enjoyed it and I had a good time. The seventh instalment might not be the best, but it offers an impressing twist and a couple of exciting traps. The series, now being an excuse to show bloodbaths and torture scenes, might have lost some of it's queasiness. But overall, whether you are disappointed by the final movie, or if you enjoyed it, when Hello Zepp plays for the final time in theatres, you should be sitting in your seat with a smile on your face.