Harefooted Halloween: Saw X

What I Liked: They actually sorta did something different.  They make John “Jigsaw” Kramer (Tobin Bell (Seinfeld)) the center of the story for the first time, they show him overseeing and executing his deathtraps, they make him the most sympathetic he’s ever been and there isn’t a subplot of the police searching for Kramer or where the victims are being held.  Another first is he carries out his “game” in a foreign country but it’s still within an abandoned warehouse so in the end this location change doesn’t amount to much.

I’d like to expand on the above for a moment because we’ve never spent this much time with Kramer in one sitting and it was kinda nice.  The story revolves around him seeking an unapproved underground treatment for his brain cancer.  He’s given months to live so he’s desperate to try anything.  Now even though he’s the main villain of the series he’s always been more of a figure in the shadows than out front when his victims are working their way through the traps.  It was cooler than I would’ve thought to spend the entire runtime with Kramer and see him operate up close.  Throughout the film, especially the first third, they humanize the character by showing him at his lowest point and searching for hope to cling to.  I think they succeed too which is a pretty impressive feat.

What I Didn’t Like: For me the real reason the Saw pictures are a guilty pleasure are the crazy twists and turns of the soap opera that plays out in between Jigsaw murdering folks.  It’s much more like a TV show in that sense where everyone’s related somehow and locations get revisited and paths cross endlessly and Kramer has more accomplices than you’d ever expect.  Since this picture takes place in an entirely different location than all the rest those connections are lost.  There are a couple of reveals for sure but they’re more ho hum than the bonkers shit we’re used to.

Unfortunately the film is extremely predictable.   This is partially a consequence of the story being more on the generic side this round.  The other part of it is if you’ve seen some of the other Saws then it’s obvious where the story is going and how it’ll play out.  These movies love to jump around in time so I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to let you know this one’s a prequel.  As a result there’s only one way the events can turn out.

Damn, this could be the goriest in the series, and one of the goriest pictures in general.  I’m not adverse to shit getting nasty but I’m not a huge proponent of it either.  The franchise is known for their brutal treatment of the human body and this entry is no different.  At one point someone cuts the intestines out of another person and flings them across the room to use as a rope to grab a cart.  Kinda funny but also yuck!

Overall Impressions: On one hand yep, it’s another Saw movie alright.  But on the other I appreciate the filmmakers trying a few different things, namely getting you on John Kramer’s side by successfully turning him into a victim.  The picture really takes its time setting this up (this runs a half hour longer than all previous films) and diving deeper into the teacher/student relationship between Kramer and Amanda (Shawnee Smith (The Blob (1988))).  Some fans might be annoyed by this because it takes a while to get to the deathtraps but I think it works (although they throw one in early on with John daydreaming about a guy getting his eyeballs sucked out of his head, it totally feels like something added later in production to satiate the audience).

This is kind of a self-contained movie that would probably actually play better if you haven’t seen any of the others.  Then you wouldn’t be able to predict the outcome as easily.  Not only that but the character study stuff is fairly well done and brings you completely up to speed.  So despite the absence of dubious insane plot twists I guess this could maybe possibly against all odds be my favorite Saw film?  Whatever that’s worth.  Not that the others are shoddily made exactly but the methodical storytelling makes this one come across the most professional.  It’s still the same director/editor from four previous installments, Kevin Greutert, and writers of three, Pete Goldfinger and Josh Solberg, which is interesting.  I’m glad they finally altered the formula slightly and found a new angle to tackle the material from.  I mean it’s not wildly different or anything though.  I don’t wanna oversell this.  It’s just gently refreshing.

So if you haven’t checked out one of these before this might be a good starting point.  If you don’t mind someone drilling into their own skull and picking out a piece of their brain that is.