Movie Information
Release Date: October 27, 2017
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Writer: Peter Spierig, Josh Stolberg
Cast: Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell, Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson, Cle Bennett, Laura Vandervoort, Paul Braunstein, Mandela Van Peebles, Brittany Allen, Josiah Black, Edward Ruttle, Michael Boisvert, Sam Koules, Troy Feldman, Shaquan Lewis, Shaquan Lewis, Esther Thibault, Lauren Beatty, Nadine Roden, Adam Waxman, Arabella Oz, Misha Rasaiah, Christine Simpson, Billy Parrott, Sonia Dhillon Tully, Keeya King, Ryan Manning, Tina Jung, Brandon James Sim, Darren Joesphs
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 91 minutes
Production Company: Serendipity Productions, Twisted Pictures, A Bigger Boat, Lionsgate
Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery
Language: English
Country: USA
Budget: $10,000,000 (estimated)
When the first SAW film was released in 2004,
it changed the game for horror films all around. In the film community,
the ending left audience members were shocked beyond belief that the
antagonist actually came out on top, winning the psychotic game they put
together. Another element that raised the bar to new levels was the
simplistic nature of the film. It had a low budget, a small cast, and a
script that was as strong as steel. It gave a new meaning to the phrase
“less is more.” Out of the six sequels that followed, a couple of those
were great; measuring up to the same caliber as the first, while the
others definitions were ridiculous. Even though you suspended your
disbelief, they still came across as horrific films that should be swept
under the rug or even thrown into the pits of hell. By no surprise,
that’s exactly how this eighth film in the franchise has come across.
Simply put, it’s not good at all, ranging from the characters, plot,
story, and overall production. It’s a lazy attempt that didn’t think
anything through and the writers should be ashamed. There’s a level of
mystery that still keeps you engaged in the end, but when the so called
secret is revealed, you’ll just roll your eyes, and run to your car to
get as far away from this mess as physically possible.
10 years has past in the cinematic
world since Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) ran amuck in the society. Characters
that were in the last films are nowhere to be found, but I guess the
director just decided “who cares.” The budget and production were
already small from the last few films, and from the first few frames,
it’s blatantly obvious that the quality has stepped down. The acting
across the board just isn’t good. It’s not up to par, and it feels this
should be a straight to home video release, or a film that should be on
the SyFy channel. Some of the actors tried to come across as believable,
but the harder they tried, the harder I cringed. One actor in
particular was laughably bad, giving all he could, yet still failing
miserably. Some did better than others, but in the end, a harder search
for better talent would’ve gone a long way, and would be appreciated by
movie fans all around. The writers could’ve also given movie goers
characters that are likeable. When death is moments away, a few could’ve
easily survived, but they had too much pride to confess supposed past
sins. It was ridiculous. Just confess! Who cares, if you confess in
front of strangers you’ll never see again. Again, this film gives new
meaning to words, and this time, it’s, “too much pride can kill a man.” I
wanted the film to give me at least one character I could root for, but
unfortunately, the film didn’t contain any.
Something else that made the earlier
films so loved is that they actually dealt in the realm of realism. The
horrific torture the victims went through could actually happen in the
real world. In this latest film, Jigsaw, it is all over the place soaked
in stupidity. I don’t know where the financing came from, but whoever
was pulling all the strings behind the scene (I don’t want to spoil it),
but they must have hit the mega lottery, and had a PhD in engineering.
The traps used in the movie were over complicated, and frankly childish.
What was supposed to be creative came across as an immature dream that
served no real purpose. I would’ve rather the killer just kidnap their
victims, and beat them with a hammer, but I guess the directing and
writing team were trying to go for something that in short didn’t work.
As I was watching, I couldn’t help but ask, who has the time, but at
this point I started to care less and less and just wanted to leave.
Another failing aspect of the film
was the dependence of the characters involved doing exactly what the
baddie wanted. There were too many options for the victims to get out
alive, which destroys the plot, leaving plot holes around bigger than a
black hole. Trap after trap, it’s clear that this entire script depended
on random coincidences that had to occur just right, and if not, the
entire move would’ve fallen apart. At these revelations, all you could
do is deep sigh, and lose energy from the frustration on screen. No
effort was put into this film, and if you see it yourself, I’m confident
you’ll feel the same.
I could continue to go on, but there’s honestly no point. I don’t recommend this film because it treats its audience like they’re stupid. This production is a clear money grab during the Halloween holiday season which you shouldn’t be a part of. Give a worthy movie, and then, we’ll shell over the money, but with crap like this, it come off as disrespectful. One character that CLEARLY died in a past film pops up out of nowhere in the end with no explanation, and at this point, you’ll want to grab anything in sight, and just launch it at the scream due to anger.
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