Saw
3**
Saw
3
**
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman
Written by: James Wan, Leigh Whannell
With: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh
Review by: Larry Stanley
This review will contain spoilers. You have been warned.
No more Mr. Nice Guy with a full paragraph letting you know that there will
be spoiled scenes or that the entire movie will be given away. Nope, I am tired
of that. No longer will I write aimlessly about my uncle Moe or the time he
was stuck in an elevator with three nymphomaniacs on a trip to San Diego. No
more will I subject you to tired old memories of Burl Ives songs that….
What?
Oh, sorry.
Sometimes you just have to put yourself in the frame of mind it takes to create
a film like Saw. Well, the story itself is easy when you get right down to it.
"Ok kids; we need to make three films about a psycho who kidnaps people,
tortures them and allows them to die. But to him, it is simply a game. We need
to make it a series, so how do we do each one different to keep them entertaining?"
"Ooooh, I have an idea," says one creative sort. "Let's make
each film starring different people and have the story written by one of the
best horror writers in the world, using intelligence, wit and social commentary!"
"Nooo. That's not it. You're fired. Who else?"
"Well," says another. "We could put lots of boobies in it."
"Almost. Too many boobies might put off the women. You're fired. Anything
else?"
One more raises his hand. "Just what is our target audience?"
"Oh, figure males between the ages of 15 and 28."
"But," one other says, "If we are aiming for 15 year olds, we
have to keep it PG or they won't be able to get in."
"They will sneak in, just like they always do. You're fired."
"Boss," says the one who asked about the audience, "Why not just
regurgitate the first film over and over, toss in some boobies, just a couple,
and simply keep the gore factor higher in each film, coming up with new and
sicker ideas to entertain the masses?"
"MY GOD MAN! That is horrible. What treat the viewing public like some
sick group that lives vicariously through others for pain, torture and mutilation?
Each film diving further and further into depravity and despair causing the
viewer to become even more armored against these things in real life? BRILLIANT!
You are a new Vice President. Now, find me some sickos to invent murder devices."
Now, I am sure something like that would never happen in real live offices of
filmmakers in Hollywood…
Nevertheless, every now and then you do wonder what the brainstorming sessions
for these type films are like.
Saw 3 makes me wonder even more. Simply a remake of the first two films but
with added twists and turns, and some of the most intense gore scenes I have
seen in a while.
Now to me, gore is usually funny when I see it on the screen. I am much more
into suspense when I want a good scare.
Released in time for Halloween, Saw 3 is a gore fest for the viewer. Amputations,
torture, faces blown off, torsos ripped open, and one of the wildest drowning
scenes you have ever seen.
That is it. This time out, Jigsaw is still playing by the same rule: "Play
by Jigsaw's rules and you will live."
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Remember where we left the Spoiler. Spoiler. Yes, here is one. I lied; I still
give you a full paragraph of warning.
Unfortunately, his assistant Amanda (introduced as such in the second film)
has not been playing by these rules herself. Turns out, that in Amanda's version
no one gets out alive. This is demonstrated in graphic detail in a series of
confusing flashbacks that serve more to interrupt t
he
film then to advance it.
Spoiler Ends
Here we are dealing with a kidnapped doctor who is forced to attempt to keep
Jigsaw alive through one last game. He has kidnapped a man (Jeff) who lost his
son in an accident a few years before, and who has been living on hate and anger
since.
Now Jigsaw wants to show him the error of his way, and make him appreciate more
his surviving child and estranged wife.
Jigsaw wants to live long enough to see this game ended. But, leave it to Jiggs
to toss in some tough stuff. Starting out with a woman in a freezer who is slowly
being covered with water and turned into a giant woman-sickle.
What will Jeff do? Will he forgive her for not acting? On the other hand, will
he just chip off a piece to cool his soda?
The film continues like this for about two hours. While Jeff is going through
torture that is meant to 'advance' him, the doctor is performing surgery on
Jigsaw. This is where I almost turned my head occasionally. The image of the
drill and saw just got to me. Not much, but some.
All the time the good Doctor is doing this, she has a bomb around her neck designed
to blow off her head if Jiggs dies. Talk about pressure.
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While all of this is going on, we continue with the various flashbacks that
I mentioned earlier. Moreover, even more confusion, by introducing characters
that are never explained. Showing Amanda killing the various 'players' but not
all of them, apparently.
The movie sets up situations that it does not complete and you know what that
means.
Spoiler Ends.
However, all of this adds in to the final twist of the film. Jiggs is not playing a game just with Jeff and the Doctor. This brings us to the end of the film.
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Jeff has escaped from his 'game' only to find that his wife (the Doctor, see
the twist?) has also been a prisoner of Jigsaw. Now Jigsaw lets him know that
he must pass one more test for it to all be over. He can kill Jigsaw, or forgive
him and let him go.
Now, I am the sort of guy that if kidnapped, tortured, forced to relive the
deepest tragedy of my life at the hands of some sick a** mother like Jigsaw,
then to find out that he had also kidnapped my wife and put her through torture
and this jerk offers me this choice, I would get a bone saw and start cutting
at his heel.
Jeff however, tosses in his own twist. Once it is over is when I realized the
absolute, true horror of this movie. It was not the gore, or the psycho causing
it all.
It was the fact
that we can look forward to Jigsaw 4 next year to settle all the twists and
turns left by this film.
That is truly horrifying.
If you like gore, Saw 3 will be right up your alley. If you prefer your gore
with a decent story, and real entertainment, go find a copy of "Braindead"
or "R-Point"; shoot even "Slithers".
Spoiler Ends.
Saw 3 is not a great film. A lot of the time, you think it isn't even a good
film. However, for a sequel it is an adequate film. Go; enjoy the gore. Don't
count on this as a film to get laid after though. If you do, check to see if
your partner is into barbwire and sharp implements first.