Picking up the Pieces

Typically, the more sequels a movie has, the worse it becomes. I once polluted the air by continuously badmouthing the original ‘Saw’ which I found insanely trite and full of holes’(before it came out, I was the film’s biggest proponent!) After I saw the second one, I declared that it was more entertaining than the original but in no way did it make it a good film. For some god awful reason, the ‘Saw’ series has somehow only gotten better since the second film, a trend that I’m not very used to in the horror genre. After watching the third entry, I found myself extremely sated by the characters, the plot, and the flashbacks that near-splendidly explained many unanswered questions from the first two films. With ‘Saw IV,’ I’m left even further content and can say without hesitation that I’m honestly looking forward to next year’s installment.

Instead of opening ‘Saw IV’ with the opening torture scene that we’ve all become accustomed to, they smartly open the film with Jigsaw’s autopsy, which is quite realistic and gruesome in the best of ways. Inside his stomach, they find a wax covered cassette tape which is then played by Agent Hoffman, one of the remaining survivors on his team. It turns out that even though Jigsaw and Amanda are now dead, their games will still commence, as this is just the very beginning of his plan. Cue opening torture scene. After this we find ourselves watching the SWAT team raid Jigsaw’s last puzzle palace where the body of Agent Kerry is found (whose ribcage was ripped apart by Amanda’s trap in the third film). SWAT Sergeant Rigg finds himself extremely distraught since nearly all of his partners have died around him since the second film. Forced to take some vacation time by Hoffman, Rigg makes his way home as two FBI profilers arrive at the scene to assist in the investigation. They propose that there is another killer on Jigsaw’s team. While at home, Rigg is knocked out and wakes up to an infamous Jigsaw video that tells him he has become too obsessed with saving the lives of everyone around him. He’s given 90 minutes to run around the city picking up clues in order to save the lives of Agent Hoffman and Agent Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), who was last seen left for dead in the third film. As he rushes to their rescue, it becomes apparently clear that Jigsaw has other ideas for Rigg and the other officers, forcing them to play by his code of ethics and moral identity. Meanwhile, the FBI profilers bring in Jigsaw’s ex wife to find out what she knows about the killings.

I’m really surprised I enjoyed this film so much. I had a feeling it would be a let down, but it held up really well. Lyriq Bent, who plays Rigg, is a very compelling actor in this role and it’s almost a shame seeing how loyal he is to his friends being that he has to endure these horrible tests to save them. Though I had previously read, and still read in reviews, that this film was probably the goriest, I would have to disagree. The gore is definitely there, but it’s not as overwhelming as in the previous films. I’m sure you can argue that point with me, but I found this film to be more interested in the story and not on the violence, which I believe was a mistake in the other movies. ‘Saw IV’ naturally throws a few twists our way, but I found that they weren’t nearly as problematic or ‘OH MY GOD, REALLY?’ as the other movies, which is a good thing. The flashbacks revolving John Kramer (Jigsaw) and his ex wife and how he became obsessed with violence and these tests is quite interesting to say the least. I never really felt sorry for him with the whole cancer bit, but these flashbacks provide a bit more depth as to why he went off the deep end.

All in all, I definitely approve of this film. ‘Saw III’ set the trap. In ‘Saw IV,’ I stepped in it. I can’t wait to see how I end up in ‘Saw V.’

The Hidden Message: The best twist for ‘Saw V’ would be if they didn’t have a twist. That’d blow everyone’s minds.