It’s almost Halloween, and that means it’s time for another “Saw” movie.
Though it is the sixth installment in the franchise, “Saw VI” redeems itself from a disappointing “Saw V” and brings back fun, gore and tension into the “Saw” franchise.
Starting immediately after the point where “Saw V” ended, “Saw VI” begins with Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) dead and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) standing as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) legacy.
But when Special Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) and the FBI begin to investigate Hoffman and his involvement in the Jigsaw case, another game is put into motion. As the FBI closes in, Jigsaw’s master game finally comes full circle.
“Saw VI” is one of the most exciting entries in the “Saw” series and really takes the audience back to the basic torture games and traps, but also brings forth new moral dilemmas not yet seen in the “Saw” series.
Directed by Kevin Greutert, the fourth director in the series, “Saw VI” delivers the gore, tension and an enjoyable plot to follow.
In this movie, there is one central torture game taking place and the main participant is William (Peter Outerbridge), the CEO of a major medical insurance company.
His game forces him to make difficult moral decisions deciding who lives and who dies, similar to his unjust insurance company. The kicker is that the individuals he is deciding to kill or spare are employees of his company.
One thing the “Saw” franchise continues to do well is make gruesome and mind blowing traps. Each trap was unique and creative, and a couple in particular were extremely grotesque. One trap included a not-so-fun ride on a merry-go-round.
The most surprising aspect of “Saw VI” is the individuals in all the traps. Brace yourselves, they’re all actually intelligent. Previous “Saw” movies, including “Saw V,” had brain-dead characters running around promoting bad horror movie stereotypes.
This new installment contains characters that make actual human choices and are easier to connect with, and it makes for a much more realistic experience.
It is hard to believe at this point that no one in the movie connects the dots and realizes that Hoffman is Jigsaw’s secret apprentice, which the audience learns in one of the earlier movies.
He looks guilty, acts creepy and says cryptic, morally wayward things all the time. He’d be more subtle if he had “Jigsaw’s Apprentice” written on his forehead.
However, the series is starting to falter, no matter how good this movie was.
The whole storyline is starting to get stretched out and at this point we are still following four main characters: Jigsaw, his wife Jill (Betsy Russell), Hoffman and Amanda (Shawnee Smith), all of whom have conflicting ideologies that no one believes or connects with.
“Saw VI” is an exhilarating and thrilling chapter and one of the best of the series. It gives finality to the series; even though a seventh is in the works. See you next Halloween.
Reach review Gabe Jorgensen at Gabriel.Jorgensen@usd.edu.
1 comments