In the early 2000s, these were the edgiest movies my high school peers would be clambering to see while I was still watching Star Wars and James Bond. I’ve caught up with this franchise in later years, and it’s hardly one I love; more like one I know. The first Saw movie is one of those evolutionary cinematic moments, whilst the sequels got more elaborate, but also more redundant. Thankfully, the franchise tried to do something different with the last two – Jigsaw and Spiral – and although I thought Spiral was okay, both were ultimately unsuccessful. Without having seen this movie’s trailer for myself, I’m led to believe that Saw X will be taking the franchise back to formula. Saw X is directed by Kevin Greutert, the returning director of both Saw VI and Saw 3D. And Saw X is written, in part, by Josh Stolberg, the returning screenwriter for both Jigsaw and Spiral.
John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is amidst his cancer battle. He hears about an experimental new treatment being thwarted by big pharma, and investigates to find that they still operate a secret clinic in Mexico. John books in with Dr. Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund), for a last-ditch effort to overcome his brain tumor that promises him only months to live. This clinic’s doctors seem very professional, and John is relieved when everything goes according to plan… No, wait! No, it doesn’t, and John’s got some Jigsaw machinations in mind for those than have done him wrong.
The first third of this movie is so boring 😴 I think it could be the most bored I’ve ever been in a cinema. It got me mad thinking about franchises that are over, but keep busting out sequels to nab our monies. Terminator: Dark Fate worked for me, as an extension of the Terminator franchise, as if it were a fantasy graphic novel turned into a feature film, knowing full-well that the original story was done. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was similar, but also amazing because the Star Wars universe is (or should be) deep and expansive. The Saw franchise, not so much. This is the third attempt to keep the franchise going after Saw 3D was booked to be the final chapter – John Kramer, the original Jigsaw killer, had died four movies prior! Saw X takes so long establishing Pederson’s practice as a false treatment, and it’s simple not what a Saw movie is supposed to be about – John’s Mexican journey is so glittery and hopeful that it belongs on the Lifetime Channel. There’s only one trap we see during this time, and it’s imaginary. Now, I won’t profess to know exactly what hardcore Saw fans are into, but surely, it’s not this.
Then, betrayal kicks in, and the story gets speedy. My favoured Saw scenario is always when there is a group of people, watching on and encouraging each other through the horrific traps, knowing full well that they will probably be next 😁 And debate me, but the bone-marrow scale could be the best Saw trap I’ve ever seen! 😮 It’s so brutal! It’s not enough for Valentina (Paulette Hernández) to have to cut off her own leg, but she has to suck the marrow out of her bone, while the machine wants to take off her head. She sends blood and muck through that suction tube, but the trap is so callous that it filters out anything that isn’t marrow 😱 And in the moment of Valentina’s death, I would’ve loved Amanda (yes, Amanda! Played by Shawnee Smith) to lean into John and suggest, “maybe we skimped a little on her time limit there” – just for a bit of levity. Brutal! From this point on, after a slow start, the Saw traps come thick and fast, and, ah, the joys of watching people get mutilated and ripped apart. Remember when Martin Scorsese accused Marvel of being theme parks? These are the movies with amusement rides, Mr. Scorsese, containing such elaborate contraptions that aren’t so commonly death-defying as they are death-confirming, and people love it.
But for a thrill here and there, my rhetorical question is still this; does this movie justify its own existence? Barely. Probably. I still can’t say what mega fans want out there. I don’t even know what I’d like out of this franchise. I like that Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith get to portray their famed characters, beyond their story that’s already complete, and if they are in for the work while they can still get it, then I don’t begrudge them. It’s kind’ve like Wes Craven wanting to do New Nightmare his own way, inconsequentially to the Freddy Krueger storyline that had already finished; and he had his original team of actors ready to partake too. In Saw X, John Kramer is simply taking his successful murder-porn show on the road! But I would argue, Saw X is definitely more like ‘Jigsaw II: A Tale of Saw’, whilst returning to the same graininess of the original movies, without the production gloss of Jigsaw. And in naming it so, I think the movie could’ve steered away from the iconography of the tape players and Billy the puppet, which make less sense here since these people already know John, and John was always standing right there to deliver the rules of each game in person. I think the Saw franchise is at its best when John’s rationale is put under a microscope; where he’s not seen as an actual killer, and his traps are boasted to have restorative powers – but at first glance, this story seems too vengeful for that to shine through, and these characters seem too far horrible to believe them victims of their own weaknesses (except Gabriela (Renata Vaca), with her drug addiction). I thought Amanda’s characterisation was off from what I remember as well – she is a devout believer in John’s work as a justification of her own trauma, while eventually becoming possessive of John and not wanting anyone else to succeed. Therefore, you’d think she’d be encouraging of Gabriela going through her trap, and Amanda could’ve still gone off her tits when Gabriela won but was denied medical treatment, because that’s not how things are supposed to go. Also, that – the prize for winning is your life, but this isolated Mexican farmhouse has to be at least half an hour from the nearest medical facility; at least Saw 3D revealed that Kramer always had a medico on the team nearby, for setup and presumably treatment thereafter if needed as well. I thought the movie’s writers did well to capture the structure of Saw, down to the twist ending, and even the homage to John covered in blood again like the original Saw’s ending. But again, for me, I think there was one scene where I felt tension in the unknown, as to whether Parker (Steven Brand) was a legitimate customer or a guilty fraudster, because just knowing how these movies go, I was pretty confident John was on top of it, and a ‘guilty’ verdict left more scope for hijinks.
So, don’t hate me for being a hater. I do admire this franchise as one that keeps on going, but maybe there’ll never be enough in these movies for me, and it’s best if I sit the next one out. Surprisingly enough, I can still say that I had a good time – it was surreal for me sitting in a fairly lonely cinema (with one other patron) and realising how far I’ve come with all this stuff. I’m turned around on the experience, but I cannot praise this movie for quality. But then, I never can.
2.0
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