Review of Saw III (2006) by Austin R — 06 Jun 2015

These sequels continue to surprise me, 'Saw III' is a very good film and a sequel that feels like it has somewhere to go, it is also the longest out of the films, narrowly beating out the first film. All the technicals are still great keeping with what the series as established thus far. The story is good as well and explains quite a lot, whether or not you might think it ruins the old films by this feeling the need to go out of its way to explain events of the previous films is up to you but I appreciated it and it honestly makes it feel like they had planned all of these right from the beginning. I thought that Kramer would have put his feet sideways on the floor when he was lying down in the room from the first film as imagine having to keep your feet upright the whole time? All of the things that I thought didn't make sense with the traps being inescapable were very well explained later on in the plot. Also, in the flashback you would have thought that Amanda would have attacked Kramer when he was in her apartment. It's great to see Wahlberg back at the start, he was smart with what he did with his foot, and I do like the use of pre-existing characters in the story, they are still well written and it really makes the world feel alive and real, not to mention the real feeling of effort that these sequels have and that many others would have just given up on. I also thought that when Lynn was introduced for the first time that it was one of the trapped people in the house from the previous film and with her exit the way Amanda shoots seems really kind of casual but they even explain that later as well! It's amazing. Hoffman is introduced and I thought it was a funny coincidence that he was called that given that it was one of the producer's names but he was called Hoffman for that exact reason because the producer had sadly passed away.

I do think the first trap could have been shown in a different way, the way the first trap was shown in the last film was before the investigators had arrived; this time around it shows us in flashback, which isn't necessarily bad as it at least shows us what happened. However, I mentioned this because this is where I thought the series would start to go over the top with the traps but the series keeps a firm grip over everything and keeps the focus on both the story and the traps. Of course the budget for the films would get bigger as time went on but not by that much more and in the grand scheme of things remained quite small but obviously it would give them more things to play with, but seriously though, that pig trap was outrageous. Honestly the most bloody bit, and probably most intense highlight of the series, was the skull surgery scene. It was kept uncut due to the smart words of the filmmakers, as it isn't anything worse than you'd see in an actual operation or on TV, which makes sense. I was just worried she was would drill into his brain. It seems pointless to do that surgery on Kramer given his condition and how the film ended but 'Saw VI' goes into that concept further, but honestly given the end, it'll make you feel like it was pointless for another reason. You would have thought that putting your hand in acid or putting it in a cold environment would cause you to drop the key but that didn't happen, thankfully. Also, thanks film for going out of your way to show puke. I do have to question how Kramer knows so much though, maybe I missed something but how does he know things like the witness escaping and Jeff's constant feelings of revenge? But I don't think it's fair to start complaining about that now.

Jeff annoyed me; he had a good flashback scene where he was pretty much doing, 'you talking to me', but I felt like he didn't think. Each trap he took too long deciding about what to do and then besides one time, kept messing up. I know he was in a hard situation because of what happened to him, but it got annoying after a while, especially because of the fact that he ended up trying to save them anyway. He also didn't remember that the doors kept locking behind him every time he walked into a room, smart; and really, would you seriously pick up that puppet? I thought with the key where the shotgun was, as well as the key in his child's toys, couldn't he just smash the glass and look for the key that way, as well as smash the glass and take the key from the side which would decrease the chance of something happening to him? However, it all works to his whole theme, some might think his addition was pointless but it all fits in at the end. I also like how the games start as soon as the tape recorder has finished, that's some great timing and what if it took him longer to find the player, or if he never found it at all, when would the 2 hours start?

Kramer has a flashback near the end where he is talking to someone and I thought I saw Obi from the last film in the background at one point. Unlike the previous 2 films, this ending is pretty much leading into another film, which makes sense as this film was greenlit as soon as the last film was; or alternatively, this could be the end but just be very jarring. This is the only film that ends this way though, all the others have a 'game over' and end in a way that could lead into a sequel if one ended up being greenlit or end in a way where that could be a satisfying conclusion, 'Saw V's springs to mind the most. I was surprised by some of the events nearing the end of the film though and you start to wonder how they have more sequels, I thought that would be a bloodpack or something on Kramer because of what happens at the end, I won't say due to spoilers but it is all explained and evolves into something much more. But maybe they did plan to end it soon after, or not, but who knows? I paid attention to the wax part and given how it ends you might suspect something to happen but it continues to change. The theme music plays twice and it fits excellently once more, I make note of that because most sequels take their iconic bits and use them over and over, but not this. The puppet is used a little more this time around and he turns his head to the camera this time when every video starts and the theme is only used when it needs to be but nobody said 'game over' at the end! 'Saw III' is a great sequel that continues the story in a great way and continues to feel relevant, unlike most horror sequels that just give up after a while and, once more, I think the consensus is unfairly negative.