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| Images courtesy Lionsgate |
Two decades later, the Saw franchise lingers on with another sequel in the long running story arc of one dastardly John Kramer and his master plan.
Serving as a horror side quest of sorts, Saw X is a direct sequel to the original, taking place before Saw II. The antagonist of the entire saga has been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and has very little time left to live. Searching for a cure, he travels abroad for a surgery that will miraculously end his plight and return him to good health, free to kill more people. However, nothing is as it seems and the Jigsaw killer is back to his old ways of kidnapping and torturing his victims in new and not so interesting ways. At this point, the traps and devices have become old hat, lacking any originality or newness. The claustrophobic feel of the 2004 film has been missing for years and is another sticking point of this needless tag end.
Where most of this saga has struggled has been in its repetition and lack of any semblance of story telling. Finally, we’re given some actual reasoning for Kramer’s vengeance and a worthy dose of character building (at least) in the world of Saw. While this is no award winning creative venture, Saw X starts to get back to basics, serving as one of the better sequels in the entire franchise. Sadly though, nothing will ever live up to the heights of the original as the brand continues to rely too heavily on torture porn aesthetics and terribly rendered gore effects instead of capitalizing on the momentum it makes early on with actual plotting and development. By the ninety-minute mark, Bell is bored to tears with this script and a de-aged Shawnee Smith in horrendous make-up is absolutely embarrassing.
Saw X is a symptom of a wayward brand that really has nowhere to go. It’s so locked in to its own hype train that it was doomed to fail. Much like its predecessors, the conspiracies and detective subplots steal away from the heart of the horror at hand. What is meant to be a scary movie is more so a lesson in how to push the repeat button and hope that something fresh happens. Much like the Chris Rock spin-off Spiral, this latest Saw has the makings to be way better than it should be but fails to break away from its former shortcomings. Other than the first act, where Tobin Bell actually shows some dramatic chops, Saw X treads through a variance of death traps that ultimately do nothing for a dying brand.
When the first Saw was released, it filled a void and helped define a sub-genre that was quickly becoming a mainstay. Over the years, Saw and its lead killer have really done nothing to further horror but have instead taken budgets that should be allocated to up and coming creators. Instead, we’re locked into this constant string of continuations with dwindling returns. In a time when the term “elevated horror” gets thrown around loosely, we actually need originality not this studio film mediocrity. Director Kevin Greutert is back after Saw VI and Saw 3D to deliver another mediocre entry that should serve as a swan song.
-CG