Review of Saw V (2008) by Alexander P — 01 Aug 2010

Definitely the worst of the series so far, it suffers from the same problems Saw IV has and throws in a few more things to ruin the franchise.

As with Saw IV, the past and present is all over the place. There are way too many flashbacks, and a lot of the time it's difficult to work out which scenes are meant to be in the present.

Another problem with Saw V is that it seriously lacks a decent story line or twist at the end. What sets the other Saw films apart from the likes of Hostel, which are really just a bloodbath, the Saw films build up a lot of questions throughout the film, and then blows you away at the end with an unbelievable twist. This however, was just filled with flashbacks of the previous films and the odd trap that aren't anywhere near as gruesome as we are used to until the last couple of games. As for the newest game with the 5 victims; just a quick relief from the detective work. There is very little suspense involved and apart from their very last task it's not that shocking or gory.

Ultimately Saw V is just a detective film with a few traps thrown in, which don't even repeat the same adrenaline pumping atmosphere that is what made the previous 4 so good. There is no explanation as to how the detective knows who Jigsaws accomplice is, and no explanation as to why he revisits all the old 'games' instead of looking for the bastard. It discards the things that made the others so good and was just very disappointing.