Saw V
Movie Review
"Saw V"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: D
Rating: R
Released: Friday, October 24, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
No one expects the fourth sequel to a horror film to be any good, but the "Saw" series has grown particularly redundant. "Saw V" is as rote and mechanical as one of Jigsaw's traps, though at least Jigsaw's traps are suspenseful and ingenious. The movie is neither of those things.
It begins immediately after the events of "Saw IV," which the movie assumes you have watched quite recently. It definitely does not assume that you watched the movie once, a year ago, and forgot everything about it once you had written your review. You may remember (or maybe Wikipedia has reminded you) that a cop named Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) was revealed to be an accomplice to Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the gravel-voiced trickster whose fiendishly clever devices have killed dozens and entertained millions. Now Hoffman is accepting commendations for solving the case, but FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) is starting to catch on that he, Hoffman, is actually a bad guy.
Strahm, who was injured in Jigsaw's final orchestration, follows his hunch and pores over the old Jigsaw case files. As he does this, the film shows us flashbacks to Jigsaw and Hoffman's prior interactions, thus allowing Jigsaw -- the franchise's central figure -- to continue to be a major character even though his death occurred way back in "Saw III." (Flashbacks are how he managed to be all over "Saw IV," too.) After we are shown these vignettes, Strahm always deduces something new about Hoffman, something he could only deduce if he had seen the flashbacks along with us. I don't know how he's doing that, but it's a pretty neat skill for a detective to have.
Meanwhile, five strangers are trapped in a series of Jigsaw-style games, forced to work together (or slowly kill one another) in order to survive. Two of them are played by Julie Benz and Meagan Good. IMDB says their characters are named Brit and Luba, but I don't think the movie ever tells us that. I'm pretty sure I would remember if someone had been called "Luba."
Anyway, did I mention it's all pretty routine by now? Whatever wit or cleverness this series had has long since dried up. Even viewers who keep coming back for the blood 'n' gore are liable to be disappointed: While there's plenty of it, it's rarely the result of anything creative or "fun." It's like the movie isn't even trying to appeal to its most devoted fanbase. I do admire the ability to keep retroactively adding information to the story -- oh, it turns out that while THIS was happening, so was this OTHER thing! -- but that device works best when there was a master plan in place at the outset, not when you're making it up as you go.
The first-time director is David Hackl, who worked as assistant director on the last two entries and evidently learned plenty from his bosses. I might as well quote my review of "Saw IV," since it's still applicable: "[His] preference is to shoot everything as if he were a film student making a Nine Inch Nails video. You get that metallic swooshing sound effect over everything, jittery jump cuts in the middle of people's sentences, and eerie, atonal music playing almost constantly. All of these devices are employed even in the non-suspenseful scenes in the hopes of creating a false sense of intensity."
The film's promotional tagline is "You won't believe how it ends." And it's true: I was expecting one of those trademark "Saw" surprise twists, and instead I got an anti-climax that made me say "So what?" Is that what they meant? Is the series over now? The faux-intellectual moralizing is beyond absurd, Jigsaw is a joke who's been dead for two films, and none of the other surviving characters are even slightly interesting. Set the timer and let this thing explode, would you?
Grade: D
Rated R, a lot of harsh profanity, abundant graphic violence and gore
1 hr., 28 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 18 comments
October 24, 2008 at 10:36 am
Actually, the filmmakers have stated that the films at this point are geared directly toward the fans . Generally, horror fans will revisit the preceding chapters in a horror franchise in the days or weeks before the release of the newest installment to avoid that lack of memory you went on about. Since each new "Saw" film has openly been contingent upon having intrinsic knowledge of what transpired in the previous chapters since part II, I advise engaging in a refresher viewing if you decide to watch the pre-planned "Saw VI".
Here's what I'm wondering: If you disliked part four so much, why bother reviewing five? It's apparent from the tone of your review that you had a relative amount of contempt for the series at this point, so why bother? For internet hits? The website is Eric D Snider.com..whch conveys to me that you're the boss..so I don't imagine you were "required' by someone in an existing heirarchy to see the film. In essence, you chose to see a new sequel in a series you already dislike. Yeah, that makes sense. Personally, I'm going to go see the new film because I enjoyed the other four. Otherwise I wouldn't shell out the cash ,which would be better utilized purchasing gas for my truck than seeing a sequel in a series I've already grown to dislike.
I will give you credit for one thing , though. At least you didn't commit the same blunder half of the other critics have thus far. In several posted reviews, it has been stated that having a new "Jigsaw" was disappointing, that the movie lacks it's villian. Yet the last film stated outright that Hoffman is the new villian. So props to you for not stumbling with such a massive oversight.
October 24, 2008 at 5:27 pm
oh man this looks like garbage. if you havent seen it, check out scream queens on vh1, a reality show where the "winner" gets to be in saw VI. what a crappy prize.
October 24, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The reason for Eric to review crappy movies is that I (and many others like me) love to read pithy reviews about horrible movies. This also prevents us from having to see it ourselves, not realizing that it was total crap until we'd paid our $8.
If Saw V were good, Eric's review would've let me know, because based on the last 3 Saw movies, I wouldn't walk past the theater without holding my nose.
October 24, 2008 at 7:44 pm
If you haven't already figured it out, Eric is a movie critic. It's what he does for a living. That means he has to pretty much go see whatever movie is released, especially the well-known ones. He can't choose not to go see one just because he knows he'll hate it. That's why he reviewed Sex and the City, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Saw V, and tons of other crappy movies.
But of course, every time he writes a bad review, the fans of that particular film get all in a huff. WHY WATCH IT IF YOU HATE IT ANYWAY YOUR A BAD PERSON BECAUSE YOU HATE THE MOVIE I LIKE!!!!!!!1
October 24, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I imagine hardcore "Saw" fans enjoy the series fairly ironically, indulging in the goofiness and ridiculous gore the same way somebody might ham it up at a Rocky Horror Picture Show-ing.
Far too many goofy giggly girls and shallow trendy guys like the Saw franchise to validate my theory, though. They watch it to talk about how gross it is. I imaging the Saw/HSM audience overlaps a fair bit. . .
October 24, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Personally, I think Eric knew, without a shadow of a doubt, knew that he would hate the film. He deliberately went in with a tainted opinion, so that he could lambast the film, and singlehandedly crush the Saw franchise in a single blow. Such is his hatred of all things Saw. It is a ridiculous vendetta he harbors. I'm sure that he has had friends or relatives killed by torture type devices, and for this reason he takes his fury out on this innocent movie franchise.
Eric D. Snider, how DARE you give a bad review to a film franchise that obviously has not deteriorated in the least. Everyone knows that horror films don't start to go downhill until about the ninth or tenth installment...
October 25, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I personally love the Saw franchise. To me, the original story of Saw rekindled my cinema travels on Halloween. I will follow the sequels until the story ends. Thank you for the review. I don't expect a sensational time, but my friends and I will enjoy it nonetheless. Happy Halloween!
October 25, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I second what CinemaScribe said. Do you just like to hear yourself talk? Figuratively speaking, of course.
October 26, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I just got back from seeing it. I'm a hardcore fan, and it was horrible. The new director has no sense of the series at all, there are no unpredictable plot twists and the traps are horribly boring.
October 26, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Contempt for such films is insufficient. Merely to acknowledge their existence, calling attention to them by reviewing them is contemptible enough. Why bother 'reviewing' such worthless crap to begin with? These films should not be reviewed, they should be denounced! Reviewers should lead an angry mob to the multiplex to sieze the film and burn it!
This is reprehensible garbage!
October 27, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Wow, when did Saw become a franchise? Hopefully this god-awful joke of a horror movie will die far before it gets to the lengths of "Halloween," "Nightmare on Elm Street," etc....
I saw Saw II. Everyone died in rather funny ways. I had no desire to watch more. Ever.
October 29, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Ornello, the movies were made. The fact that a major movie studio released them, and that many people will see them, entitles them to a review. It's in the Bill of Rights somewhere. I'm not sure how this works internationally.
October 29, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Did anyone else think CinemaScribe's condescending diatribe sounded like a lead-up to a pitch for his own film-review website? Especially with a tag like that. "Here's why you and your reviews suck... so everybody come check out mine!" Am I the only one that heard that subtext?
Personally, if Eric avoided seeing the crap movies he knows he's going to hate, I'd probably read his stuff a lot less. The bad reviews are the most fun.
November 1, 2008 at 9:44 am
I also like to lmao reading reviews about bad movies, and couldn't agree more with comments 3, 4 and 6. It's pretty hilarious when people critique a critique of a critique, too.
Especially when the bad movie in question is bad in part because it includes so many flashbacks to its previous bad sequels that the first critic follows suit and includes a flashback from his previous review.
And then the second critic reads the entire review, knowing from the first sentence that he won't like it, and criticizes the first critic for criticizing a movie that he expected from the beginning he wouldn't like. But at least the people busting on Cinemascribe sound like they approached his comment with open minds, thinking it might be funny or interesting, but instead found it condescending and hypocritical.
I look forward to Saw 6, which also promises to be bad and which I also won't watch, just read all of the reviews about it.
November 1, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Bambi, your post(14) made my day. I couldn't agree more.
November 3, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Cinemascribe said: "In several posted reviews, it has been stated that having a new 'Jigsaw' was disappointing, that the movie lacks it's villian. Yet the last film stated outright that Hoffman is the new villian."
First of all, you spelled villain wrong. Just getting it out there. Also, how dumb. Obviously, the critics didn't literally think that there was no villain. They meant that the movie lacked an effective villain, which I agree with. The new Jigsaw killer isn't memorable or interesting in any way, and it could be said that he isn't threatening either.
I'm a fan of this series, but mostly for the laughs. I like that in every movie they end by killing all the main characters, then stupidly manage to make a sequel anyway. I don't mind the overlapping flashbacks in each new movie because I still enjoy Tobin Bell's performance quite a bit. I hope this franchise continues long enough to be not just bad, but completely outlandish, so I will continue to give them money.
November 5, 2008 at 1:37 am
I'm kind of disappointed that there have been so many Saw sequels. It didn't matter that there were so many crappy sequels to Halloween or Friday the 13th because the first intallments were campy and funny. But when I saw the first Saw movie without knowing beforehand anything about it, I thought it was one of the most creative and well-done horror movies ever. Saw 2 was bearable, Saw 3 was horrible, and then I decided not to watch anymore of them because they got really redundant, and showing Jigsaw as a dying old man made him pathetic instead of scary. They should have stopped after the first one instead of becoming a pathetic and laughable series.
November 6, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I wasn't disappointed at all! I hate the fact tht Jiggsaw is no longer a part of the movies anymore, but it still kept me interested and wanting to see the sixth one. There wasn't a lot of blood like all the other saw moives, but they are piecing everything together for the sixth one. I'm still a Saw fan and I always will be!
Bring on saw 6!!