So now onto the fifth film of the SAW series.....erm, SAW 5. Oh yes, there will be spoilers.....and the realization that I have used numbers instead of Roman numerals in relation to the sequels. How have I not noticed that until now?
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| Hmm, I think I may be running out of these jokes. |
Back then.....
Yeah it's good, although it looks like the series is getting a bit redundant. Doesn't look like they'll bother with a sequel now. Still, I like the ending.
And now.....
Before I stuck on this DVD, I was thinking back as to why I thought this was the weakest of the series, before the seventh movie took that (dis)honour. I guess that's a kind of a spoiler for any readers of this blog before I write about "Saw: The Final Chapter". But hey, I'm under the assumption that I'm the only reader. But I digress.
The advertising campaign for this film contained the slogan "you won't believe how it ends". Now, I never took much stock to the rumours that this was the final installment, as history reminds us that, as long as it makes money, there will always be room for sequels, especially in the horror genre. Hell, Jigsaw died in the third film, and we're now on film five.
I always saw it as testing the public whether they would tolerate another SAW movie, or to convince those who lost interest during the series, to come back to get some closure on the story, whether they bought into it or not. I was curious, as usual, as to whether it is the final film, or to see what twist they can come up with just to set itself up for a potential sequel.
When I first watched SAW 5, I thought it was a good sequel, even if it did feel like the series was running out of steam. After watching the film again, I appreciate it more than I did before, mainly because the series is finished for good (except for a reboot or a prequel, of course). But the same problems that I had with the movie, even when taking the whole series into account, still niggle at me a bit.
What I liked about the film is the story of Detective Hoffman and how he came about to helping Jigsaw, told through a series of flashbacks while FBI agent Strahm, someone who was never meant to live after the events of the previous films, pieces together Hoffman's involvement in the Jigsaw case, from his motivations, and the part he played behind the scenes of the other films.
The suspense is handled well throughout the movie, with Hoffman slowly framing Strahm as an accomplice to Jigsaw's games, in order to put people off the track on his involvement. Another factor to take in from the beginning is Jigsaw's wife, Jill, somewhat becoming another accomplice. This was surprising at first, but then again, there was an air of suspicion about her in the last movie. I felt this was another fun twist in the SAW storyline, and does lead up to the possibility of finding out more about her in a future installment. Or two.
And of course, we have "the game" itself, where five people have to go through four rooms filled with danger. They are all connected with the death of eight people in a burning building, and the cover up that took place afterwards. Again I have a problem with remembering character names (as most of them meet their end shortly after they appear onscreen), but the characters are your usual SAW fodder of cool and calm, to the desperate and irrational. The only two I recognised was the English journalist (who was in an early series of "24"), and Julie Benz, who also stars in "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", the last "Rambo" film, and the criminally underrated "Punisher: War Zone".
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| This is the second time this month that I've mentioned Punisher: War Zone. It's actually good, believe me. |
While the concept was really good, and the twist at the end where they were actually meant to help each other, was clever in itself. But my problem with the scenario was the burning building story. Not because of the act itself, as in the eyes of Jigsaw, it's good enough reason for them to be tested. It's just that, in the previous films, the main games involved someone that is linked or related to what's going on with the story. Think about it:
- Saw: Dr. Gordon was Jigsaw's patient, and Detective Tapp hired Adam to spy on Dr. Gordon. Even Zepp worked in the hospital where John Kramer was admitted.
- Saw 2: Donnie Wahlberg's son was stuck in a house with people who Donnie framed to get them convicted. And one of them turned out to be helping Jigsaw.
- Saw 3: Jeff's wife worked in the same hospital as Dr. Gordon, and who diagnosed the cancer he suffers from. So their fates were connected to each other throughout the film.
- Saw 4: Lt. Rigg's own hesitance resulted in the deaths of those who he wishes to save, and the inclusion of the two FBI agents, along with the reveal of Hoffman as Jigsaw mark two, sets itself up for another sequel.
- Saw 5: A group of people who gained from the deaths from a building fire, go through a Jigsaw game.
That last one doesn't really give a reason for the viewer to care whether they live or die. Granted the main focus were the flashback sequences, and I understand the game in Saw 5, to paraphrase John Kramer in the movie, may not make sense at first, but is needed in order to secure Hoffman's anonymity, and is vital "for all the pieces to fit together". It does seem a bit forced even today, and when I first watched it I just went along with it, as even I felt the series was potentially coming to an end.
And of course not every Jigsaw game must be connected to the characters themselves, but that's why they get little screentime in previous installments. Hell, even the opening trap with the murderer of Hoffman's sister, which opened the movie, had more relevance to the overall story than the plight of these five people. It's not just the characters that aren't connected to anyone, but the people who died in the fire, or even the building.
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| Still, at least one of them included Darla from "Buffy". |
While it did end on a note that, if no more sequels were made, it would have been an appropriate ending, it was also apparent that, while it did a great job of retaining the look and feel of the movie, especially in the flashback sequences, the series was struggling to find ways to torture people. I'm not talking about the traps, as they are still inventive, but in ways that the suffering of those onscreen make sense to the ongoing narrative.
Watching characters with no real purpose other than to suffer and die in horrible ways, can be quite boring, regardless of the outlandish ways they go. Which is one of the reasons why I never got into the "Final Destination" series. If the series went in that direction, then I would have been bored of the series, along with many other people. And of course, another one came out the following year, which I thought was better than the previous installment. I'm in two minds about that one as I write, so maybe I'll come up with a different outlook on it, as I did with this one.
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| Saw V: "You won't believe how it ends" ...and the fact that it will take two more sequels to do so. |
I also remember at the time that the series had a new director, which was another sign that the series was on the wane. I was looking up on why Darren Lynn Bousman didn't helm this project, and it was because that he wanted to do a film called "Repo! The Genetic Opera", and only agreed to SAW 4 as there was a gap in his schedule were songs being pre-recorded for that musical, so he had the time to direct the fourth film.
I didn't know until recently that he directed that film. I only knew of it from reading one of those "worst film" lists the year it was released. I also read that Paris Hilton was in it, so that was a good enough reason to avoid it. During my review of "White Zombie" a few days ago, I was looking at the list of horror movies on YouTube, and I was surprised to find the entire movie posted online, so I kept a note of it. It was during the trailers on the Saw 5 DVD that I saw one for the film. Paris Hilton, Sarah Brightman, Ogre from Skinny Puppy.....and Giles from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"?
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| That's it. I know what I'm watching next. |
And on a final note.....
If there's one more positive thing I can say about SAW 5 is the music during the end credits. It's an odd thing to pick up on, but I noticed that in the sequels following the first one, the music during the credits are the usual industrial/nu-metal style rock songs that are stuck in to justify the release of a soundtrack album. Some of the tracks are okay, others are very sub standard to be honest.
As I have said before, I am a fan of Charlie Clouser's work on the score throughout the movies. So it was great to hear something from him playing through the end credits, as I think it's more fitting after the past 90-120 minutes (depending on the sequel), instead of some generic hard rock song.
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