Movie Review: Saw 3D

Saw 3D by Heather Henshaw

Written by: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan

Directed by: Kevin Greutert

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Yet again, this Halloween debuts another installment in the well-known Saw franchise. They say this is the last one to be made. I think this may actually be the last (if you believe that or not). I have sat through all seven films now and I must say this one was much better than the last few on some, but not all, levels. I was hesitant about the 3D and I would not classify this as a horror film; for me it was a comedy more than anything.

Saw 3D starts off with Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) crawling along footless, then it pans to a trap. I have to give them credit for the first trap. It was pretty cool. As you see in the previews it is in public with two guys strapped to a saw table with a little twist to it. After the opening, the “plot” to the movie starts. For me it was just kind of a pointless storyline. The main character or “game player” Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) starts a Saw-survivor anonymous group and is the lead guru. He has become famous by sharing his story of how he survived a saw trap, writes a book and so on blah, blah, blah. They show a little of the survivor group but I wish they would really have gone into that more. We have seen maybe two survivors in the whole franchise. There is Amanda and the chick that cuts her arm off in Saw 6 (well there are more than that but, again, they do not go into it at all which is a shame to me). Yes I am sure you guessed it by now; he gets kidnapped and caught into one of Jigsaw’s games. We all hear the classic “make your choice live or die” tape that seem to never get old. This installment has the same played out plot, which is as follows: man does something wrong has friends who help or know what he did and in the end he has to help save their life. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, ‘Really? Same movie, different year.’ That is the main plot they go with but as you know they have the backdrop plot with Detective Hoffman, Jigsaw’s assistant (Costas Mandylor), and Jill (Betsy Russell), Jigsaw’s wife. I can’t go into many details on that without any spoilers.

I can say the acting in this franchise, for the most part, has been fairly decent. Tobin Bell blows me away with just his voice alone! I must say, though, that in this movie if you are looking for an Academy Award winning best performance by the others, than you better think again. A lot of the acting was over the top. Don’t get me wrong, I know some movies are great with over the top acting BUT only in B-movies (in my opinion) and not so much mainstream multimillion dollar movies. There are only 3 or 4 good actors (and, yes the same few that have been throughout the whole series).

The traps and FX… ok where do I even start on this? Saw has always been creative at the traps but this film they are just, well, lame. I am sorry, but two deaths in one film should not be alike. We have one trap that seems to be in EVERY FILM, even! That would be the fly trap, you would think they would not keep but all I can say is you will be cracking up the whole time. The 3D was also very poor in this film. They used cheap gimmicks like gore chunks flying at you. There was no real 3D to it.

There is not to much more I can tell you about this film. It is a Saw film so you know what it is about for the most part. The circle finally comes to a close and if you have followed the franchise the filmmakers do tell all. I am an avid Saw fan so, for me, it is a must see. I know they have been up and down but this one was just a good laugh… nothing more or less. So, if you have a free night, go check it out. Like I said, it felt like I was watching a B-movie so you should enjoy it!