THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When a franchise returns to the big screen, it can be for the sake of relevance or the chance to redeem itself after a dissatisfying entry. Saw hit a massive decline with their 2010 3D entry that failed to conclude on a high note. Because of that, moviegoers and fans alike were open minded with a return that would regain popularity. In 2017, it arguably paid off.
PLOT
The spin-off Jigsaw takes place ten years after the death of John Kramer, the titular serial killer. Despite this, it did not stop murder from happening. It opens with Edgar Munson being chased by authorities. He is in panic because he has a trigger mechanism, claiming he must choose people to die or he will, as part of a game. He pulls it anyway and officers led by Detective Halloran shoot off his hand, but someone makes the mistake of shooting his chest when Halloran ordered not to kill him. As that happens, five people are held captive as part of the new Jigsaw game. In their first test, all wake up in a metal room with bucket like helmets on their heads, connected to chained noises on their necks. On the opposite wall contains a multitude. They hear the voice of Kramer and are told to sacrifice blood to be free of the helmets. Only four get cut by the saw to be free, while one seemingly dies when waking up too late. Those that remain are: Anna, Ryan, Mitch (Mandela Van Peebles) and Carly (Britanny Allen). As they move on, they discover to be at a barn. Their next test involves Carly. There are three syringes present and only one can cure her from a poison inside her. She is tested because she robbed a woman and let her die from an asthmatic attack. She does deduce that the right one is 3.50 because she only stole $3.50 from the woman. Before she could take the right one, all four get hung from above and Ryan chooses to stab her with all three syringes. While this kills her, they are freed from the chains. One syringe has a combination and is used to move forward. As this game is happening, two dead bodies are found in public areas. While one is unidentified, one matches Carly. When the blood found on the bodies match John Kramer’s, there is worry that he is back from the dead. His grave is dug up to determine if it’s true or false. This only creates panic as the body of Edgar was found instead. Halloran does draw suspicions towards both forensic pathologists, Logan and Eleanor. Back at the farm, Ryan tries to cheat by entering a room that has a door marked ‘No Exit’. This gets his right leg trapped by razor sharp wires. Anna and Mitch go to another room that gets filled with grain. When it gets filled halfways, various blades fall on top of them. Ryan is able to save them by pulling a lever that sacrifices his leg. This does save them and they move along. In the next test, Mitch gets suspended above a cone like metal object with metal coils inside. He is tested because he sold a faulty motorcycle to the nephew of Kramer. The trap can only be stopped if he can reach for a brake lever at the bottom of the cone. Anna tries to disable it by placing a metal bar between the motorcycle that is activating the coils. It only lasts temporary and Mitch is ultimately shredded. Outside the barn, Logan does meet up with Eleanor and warns her that of Halloran’s suspicion of them. She does take him to a studio to reveal her being a fan girl of the Jigsaw case, as it contains recreated traps, including the one that killed Mitch. She does admit of being worried because it could incriminate her. It quickly does so because Detective Keith Hunt followed them and takes pictures to provide proof of her being a possible suspect. When he shows them to Halloran, he orders for them to be arrested. Logan does confront Hunt and has him believe that maybe Halloran could be responsible, based on the bullet wound Eddie had in the chest, a Glock 17. Although Halloran finds Mitch’s body in Eleanor’s studio, Hunt finds pieces of flesh in Halloran’s freezer. Back at the barn, Anna attempts to leave Ryan behind by slipping through a doorway. This leads to her getting subdued by a masked figure. She and the other remaining victim would later wake up in another metal room and meet Kramer, who appears to be alive and well. He explains the reasoning of them being tested. For Ryan, he knows he was responsible for friends’ deaths in a car accident. As for Anna, his former neighbor, he knows she caused the death of her infant by placing him/her on the bed with her husband; This led to him accidentally smothering it when laying on the other side. When he was framed for it, he hanged himself out of grief. Their final test involves a shotgun but before Kramer leaves, he calls the bullets the keys to their freedom. Anna attempts to shoot Ryan to be free, but the gun backfired and kills her. Ryan is unable to free himself because the keys were inside the bullets the whole time. When Logan and Eleanor scout the possible barn where the game is taking place, they get ambushed by Halloran instead. While Eleanor is able to get away, both men get taken down by an unknown assailant. They later wake up in another room with metal collars strapped to their necks. They must confess of their sins or they will be killed by lasers coming from the collars. Logan confessed to accidentally mislabeling Kramer’s X-Ray. Had he done it right, it would’ve been diagnosed sooner. Despite his confession, he is seemingly killed by the lasers anyway. Halloran does admit to being corrupt as he let many guilty suspects walk free for his own gain. Logan then gets up, revealing to have worn a fake collar, also revealing to be a Jigsaw accomplice. He shares how he was part of a game ten years before Kramer died, meaning that the game we’ve been seeing was in the past, confirming the original antagonist to still be deceased. Logan was the fifth victim from the beginning and he was saved by his captor, accepting that the mislabel was an accident. As he let him live, he took him under his wing which helped him cope with the death of his wife. The bodes found in the public were people that Halloran let go and he recreated the original game to frame him. The film ends with Logan leaving him for dead by reactivating the collar, which cuts his head in pieces.
THOUGHTS
After my disappointment with 2010’s The Final Chapter, I couldn’t help but have high expectations. When getting to first check it out in 2020, I found relief to say that I enjoyed this one. Directors Michael & Peter Spierig were successfully able to bring resurrection to a franchise that defined the 2000s. In a new era, torture porn just as gruesome as others will remember. While I wouldn’t call this story original, it did feel fresh in some way because of the new setting. With that in mind, it made this experience more exciting. As for the traps here, I wouldn’t exactly call these memorable as the past ones but they indeed hold up on brutality. While the Laser Collar can make one claustrophobic, I think the Cycle Trap makes me not want to touch a shredder anymore. The franchise has respect for representing a strong message to appreciate life. While that is still here in spirit, there is something stronger here. What I’m reminded in this movie is that any wrongdoing is wrong, no matter how small one would make it seem. You feel that through the actions of Anna. Based on the performance of Laura Vanderdoort, you mistake her for being innocent, but that’s because she ain’t telling you the whole story. When you find out everything, you accept that she is the absolute worst compared to the others she was stuck with. The difference between her and them is that she didn’t regret her actions. If you don’t regret taking the life of your child, you are downright despicable or otherwise psychotic. Mitch & Carly don't really give themselves any sympathy points because neither of them show regrets to their past until they bite the dust. The only one that actually does is Ryan. Paul Braunstein makes clear he hates himself for everything he had done since his grand mistake and proves it with the will he goes through to go as far as he could. Going into the rest of the cast, Hannah Emily Anderson straight up embodies the fans of this franchise in the role of Eleanor. Because actual people have interest in serial killer cases, it felt relatable to be a fan of Jigsaw. The irony is that she accidentally became an accomplice of the new Jigsaw. Enter Logan Nelson, who is played well by Matt Passmore. At first, he is a simple man who’s getting by, but he is truly a broken man who was at the brink of giving up. In his second chance under the wing of his mentor, he uses his lust for vengeance on those who deserve it. Since he is a military veteran who originally suffered from PTSD, there is no telling how dangerous he could be after this. There wouldn’t be Jigsaw without the original mastermind that is John Kramer. Since the film’s timeline was a mystery until the end, I was caught off guard seeing the return of Tobin Bell. In his given time, he remains just as diligent as we remember him for. Even before the original game, he was always one step ahead of his victims. This movie is a step up for the series, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any problems. First off, why are pathologists allowed to go to crime scenes? I know doctors get involved but for this line of work, I don’t recall that ever being a thing. Also, how did Eleanor never get a background check when Logan hired her? I feel like that should be essential for many jobs besides pathologists. Because of that, she threw so many red flags. If she was worried of incrimination, she should’ve not ever had the studio. During the Cycle Trap, John’s tape plays and calls out Mitch for not being completely honest. My question is how did he know Mitch wouldn’t be completely honest? He could’ve just spilled the beans without laying out the obvious. While I also don’t blame Mitch for premature celebrating, he still should’ve gotten the brake just incase. I even can’t help but wonder how did Kramer’s grave get dug up overnight since it had to take a while to get Edgar? The moon ain’t out forever, so the time crunch for Logan to do this has me curious. Anna was actually pretty smart for trying to wrap her chain to the support beam, but she totally backfired for not wrapping it the whole way around. She likely would've gotten out of it had she done that. It's definitely one thing for Kramer to know Carly stole money from someone, but it is a whole other layer of bullshit to say he knew she stole 3.50 exactly. It's not like he went on to ask others how much the victim had on her before she died. That is more confusing than knowing Mitch sold a faulty bike when that could've been an honest mistake and knowing everything Ryan was responsible for. He didn't even see Anna do what she did to her baby, so he's living off of luck calling out his victims for their sins. Also, was it really fair game if you're dropping the blades on Anna & Mitch before they're fully buried by the grain? It's already high stakes enough to have Ryan sever his leg off. I then wonder how does Nelson not know Eleanor is a Jigsaw fan? Even if he's not gonna out the blame on her, he should be curious on who has an interest in Kramer's work. And lastly, where is Lawrence Gordon during this? I mean since he was a secret backbone for Kramer during the original series, it’s odd how he wasn’t involved with another protege. Despite what I’ve said, I believe you can still enjoy the film after ignoring said flaws. In conclusion, 2017’s Jigsaw is a franchise revival that deserves more respect. If you’re as much of a Saw fan as you were when it first started, I assure you that this one will impress you.
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