Review of Jigsaw (2017) by Ds U — 27 Oct 2017

With the new film Jigsaw, what the Spierig Brothers have done is tap back into the core premise of the first film.

Shifting the focus away from excessively elaborate traps and unchecked gore, the story here is the first since the original to really delve into the premise of the games being survivable and the point being for the unwilling participants to face their personal demons/sins.

When five people wake up in an isolated farmhouse and are forced to play a new game requiring they each confess to a sin they have gotten away with, it triggers a new wave of carnage suggesting John Kramer has somehow returned from the grave ten years after his death. As local detectives and forensic specialists work to figure out where the game is being tested and who is running it, the people being tested are forced to confront their own dark pasts, leading to revelations which link directly to Jigsaw.

There's been a lot of ink written in the past couple of days complaining the traps are tamer in Jigsaw than in the other sequels. I have to call BS on that up front. There is plenty of gore and the traps are relentlessly brutal. Moreover, several of them are the most personal to the specific subject we've seen in this series outside of those designed to teach William a lesson in the superb part VI. I find it interesting this series was increasingly derided for going too far with the implausibility of its games, yet when it scales things back a bit, fans complain. People gotta bitch, I guess.

The cast (including Tobin Bell, who gets a surprising amount of screen time late in the film) is the best assembled for a Saw film aside from the first and VI (Peter Outerbridge as William is still my favorite test subject) and the grimy, filthy green industrial veneer of the original seven films has been replaced with a glossier, more polished look that really adds something. Honestly, I'm glad. After seven films in what one character early on in the franchise referred to as "an actual shithole", I was ready for a change.

Charlie Clouser's score is again spot on ("Hello Zepp" opens as well as closes this chapter ) and series editor/Saw VI & VII director Kevin Gruetert drops the hyperkinetic style of the previous films in favor of an improved, more fluid visual flow.

Then there's the twist. I really enjoyed the reveal here. What makes it so interesting isn't the identity of the character at the center of it (I had a fairly good idea who it was early on), but the ensuing explanation as to why. Within the framework of this story, I found it satisfying, if somewhat convoluted. It certainly sets up a compelling foundation for future sequels.

So, will fans love it? That depends . Hardcore acolytes who were yearning for a continuation of the Dr.Gordon /Hoffman plot are in for a disappointment. Despite loads of visual and narrative references to the previous games, neither they nor Amanda Young are so much as mentioned. This is a sequel as soft reboot and it has been designed to set the story moving ahead in new directions.

I love this bizarre, original franchise with all of the crazy traps, psychotic moralizing, timeline hopping and in your face gore, but I admit I felt hollow walking out of Saw VII back in 2010. The ending we got seemed weak and unrewarding, something tossed together without much thought, set within a movie that represented the antithesis of the original Saw.

Jigsaw effectively returns the story to its roots. Though there is plenty of the red stuff, there's more focus on plot. As was the case in Saw, the characters here are truly being tested as opposed to outright murdered. Once Jigsaw places the subjects in their game, whatever outcome transpires is dependent solely on their actions.

In the overall ranking of the series as a whole, I'd place Jigsaw about third, after my favorites Saw VI and Saw II, but higher than the rest. The time line gets a bit muddled again near the end and they do tap into some well traveled territory in regards to the narrative, but the overall experience was entertaining and never dull. This was a fun horror film to watch. I.

think the Spierig brothers have done an honorable job resurrecting this franchise, deftly rescuing it from the bitter taste left by the poorly conceived Saw VII. I'm definitely on board if the game continues in the future.

**** out of ***** Though the material is familiar, Jigsaw regains his horror glory in an entertaining late entry sequel/reboot that surprisingly opts to abandon the over the top sensibility of Saw VII in favor of returning to the vibe of the first film.