Ah, it must be Halloween season, and as such, it's time for the latest installment of the "Saw" movie series. Every generation needs its horror/suspense/gory films, whether it be Jason, Nightmare on Elm Street, or Freddy. (And worry not -- while hardly a spoiler, they have poised themselves for Saw V before the film has run out.)
Picking up where we left off, we open with an autopsy being conducted on Jigsaw, and they find a mini-cassette in his stomach, so the coroner calls Det. Hoffman to collect the evidence and listen to the manifesto. They follow that trail to find Det. Kerry dead, and two FBI profiler folks, Agents Strahm and Perez, join the search.
SWAT commander/officer Rigg is pulled into it, and he's emotionally involved as every one of the folks he's worked with is now dead. He's not able to get over his obsession with saving victims, though as this is a far cry from a Disney film, you can probably guess with some certainty how things turn out.
If you're looking for the gore and gross, you will be delighted. From the opening autopsy, you'll get your money's worth. (And while the reasons for it are not important, it's pretty much the same way I saw an autopsy being performed a few years ago, so kudos to accuracy.)
I'd also have to give props to the writers for creativity; there wasn't too much in terms of re-using methods of torture and death. What the story lacks, particularly as it's spanning the sequel run, is depth. Part of that can quite likely be attributed to few characters living long enough to become deeply entrenched in the storyline. The rest could be it seems they're running a bit thin on *why* John (aka Jigsaw) is picking his victims, or how he continues to do so with such efficiently given the obvious limitation of being dead (killed at the end of Saw III).
For the fans of the series of genre, you won't be disappointed. I wouldn't claim to be either, and still managed to enjoy the film well enough. While I won't be counting down to Saw V next year like the folks in Times Square on New Year's, I'm not dreading seeing it, either.
Entertainment News International (ENI) is the popular culture network for fans all around the world. Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!
