Saw 3 (2006)

Saw 3

2006

Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfayden, Bahar Soomekh

Directed By: Darren Lynn Bousman

Well, well, well. We're at number three, sequel number two, just two years after the release of the first Saw movie. Now, I'll admit, I liked the first movie and thought it's mind-fuck ending was very refreshing in today's horror films. Then came number two. I loved the movie and found it more entertaining than the first, although the ending wasn't as messed up, it brought the two films full-circle. And along came number three...

Basically, if you haven't seen any of the movies and don't want to be spoiled about anything, stop reading right here or skip to the bottom of the review for the rating. If you don't care or are just morbidly curious, continue on with me. I rarely hate to give spoilers away, but seeing as it's vital to the understanding of the first two films as well as the third, I'll explain what I can without giving too much away. I'll say this though, YOU HAVE TO SEE THE FIRST TWO MOVIES TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!! If you haven't seen them, well then you're about as lost as President Bush in the White House.

Saw 3 opens with a murder..torture scene. What relevence this scene has with the rest of the movie is beyond me, but seeing a guy get ripped apart by chains is pretty cool. Then, the lady cop from the second movie (name escapes me) investigates the murder and figures out that it can't be Jigsaw, because he didn't give the option for escape. Then, with complete randomness, the cop is kidnapped, dunks her hand in acid to get out of a trap, and then has her ribcage torn from her body. Thus ending any type of police action or investigation. From there we find out that Jigsaw, having escaped the clutches of the law in part 2, is dying from some type of blood clot on the brain. So he and his assistant Amanda kidnap a female doctor and hold her hostage so that she can keep Jigsaw alive while he does one final test.

Here is where I stop giving out spoilers and just go with the review. This is the basic plot, you know keeping Jigsaw alive so he can pull one final number on someone, but the movie is filled with so many flashbacks that you'll soon question what the hell you're watching. Is this a Saw movie or something directed by Penny Marshall? While the flashbacks serve a point (which is to show what happened "behind the scenes" in the first two movies and set up an emotional and unusual plot device for this film), they become a little much and you just find yourself waiting for someone to get mutilated. Which, by the way, isn't that why people go see the Saw movies? To see someone get hacked to pieces?

While the movie has gore in it, there isn't a whole lot compared to part 2. In fact, it seems as if someone turned down the gore dial for this one. Then once the gore dial was turned down, the emotional and sappy dial was turned up several notches. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but considering the overall arc of the first two films, this one seems somewhat out of place. While I won't get into the emotional aspects, I will say that they feel forced and should have been toned down for such a movie.

The acting in the film wasn't bad, but I've seen better. It seems the acting from the first film was probably the best of the series, but here it could have been a lot worse when I think back on it. The overall acting was decent at best, but what sticks out in my mind is Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and his performance. He did a great job in part 2 and just continues his twisted performance here. Nothing that is knocked out of the ballpark or stands out as phenominal acting, but decent all around the board.

The script is a little weak, especially considering how rough part 2 was on the old stomach. The dialogue in some scenes comes across as sappy and watered down, but overall, it's a fairly solid script. My only real problem was the added emotional sub-plot mixed with the 2 million flashback sequences. The "twist" ending isn't really here, and if it was, I missed the twist. The only real twist involves how the characters are all related, so if you pay attention, you'll see it coming from about ten minutes in. So here, the setup is alright, but the payoff is kind of lame and convoluted. I will say that I've seen worse from the first sequel in other franchises, so I can't be too harsh from the second sequel in the Saw franchise.

The directing is ok, but I felt that Darren Bousman had it together a little better on the second film. As you may or may not know, this is his second Saw film, so maybe he got a little bored. Anyway, it's a stylish looking movie, but nothing spectacular or anything we haven't seen already from Hollywood in the last five years. Plenty of smash-cuts, fast-cuts, and fuzzy ass dissolves make Saw 3 have the appearance of every other trendy horror..Hollywood film in the last several years. I can't really put all the blame here on Bousman, but ultimately it was his picture, so who else takes the bullet besides the director? Certainly not the Best Boy or Key Grip (watch the end credits of any movie if you're fucking clueless as to what these are). All in all, I feel that he did a better job with Saw 2, but did a decent job here.

The special fx..gore wasn't really anything to write home to momma about either. While it was cool in some sequences, other sequences didn't feel as well thought out as they probably should have been. Ok, let's put someone in a trap and pull out their chest. How can we do this? Ok, how about this.... Sounds good, we'll do it. That's probably the extent of the conversation just before filming the chest ripping scene. Anyway, the gore fx and makeup weren't bad. They were actually pretty good fx, however some of the circumstances..situations surrounding them made it come across as poorly planned.

All in all, Saw 3 is a good finale to the series, but could have been better. A lot better. The only thing puzzling me is the way this one ended, there shouldn't be anymore Saw movies. Then I read today that Tobin Bell (Jigsaw) was signed on for a 4th and 5th movie. This saddens me because I feel that they might start getting progressively worse as they go along. So, next Halloween I guess we'll get to see, SAW 4: THE RETURN OF JIGSAW!!! Why, God, WHY CAN'T THEY JUST END IT AND LET IT BE???

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