October 29th - SAW 3D (2010)

Ahhh, my old friend Jigsaw is back. Bad acting, hilarious dialogue, and tons of gore is also back. But what is new in this entry are outstanding 3-D effects and an unsatisfying ending to what is said to be the last Saw film.

Like all the other Saw films, the movie opens up with an elaborate trap and someone gets wasted in a  gruesome way. This scene provided some un-intentional laughs as everyone is screaming super loud and swearing non stop and the gore literally explodes into your face. A very promising opening and alot of fun.

Also like the previous Saw films, the movie bounces back and forth between Det. Hoffman's quest to kill Jigsaw's wife who blackmailed him at the end of Saw VI to a new story involving a man who claims to be an escaped victim of Jigsaw's and writes a book about the ordeal. However the man is a liar and Jigsaw doesn't like liars, forcing the man into a long series of mazes with his loved ones in the various traps. As much as the death scenes are interesting and hilariously over the top, I care more about the subplot with Hoffman since that is the meat of the series. Can Hoffman escape the police? This story isn't handled as carefully as in the other films and it doesn't help that the new police officer on the case is this annoying actor whose atrocious in the role.

The film's story just doesn't do it for me this time around and I would have loved to have just stuck with the original story and not deal so much with traps and high body count with new characters. But I guess that wouldn't be a true Saw film now, would it? The film is one of the weakest entries in the series due to the acting and story but it's saving grace is the uber-graphic effects involving keys inside a stomach that must come out, a buzz saw death, a burning, multiple stabbings, etc. And the 3-D effects are some of the best I have seen recently. We even get some 80's type effects like a person's face being sewn, with the needle reaching out into our faces.

And the series is finally over and it just wasn't that satisfying to me. I kept thinking how many characters we followed in this series and that's how they ended up? I guess I shouldn't be too hard on the film, it is the 7th entry and the films have been fresh for the most part. But is the game really over?