Film Review: Saw VI
Saw VI (2009)
Directed By: Kevin Greutert
Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Shawnee Smith, Betsy Russell
Review by: Bryce Holland
Image Courtesy of Steve Wilkie
Well, it’s just about time for Halloween, kids, and you know what that means.
That’s right. Another Saw film has descended upon us.
For the past six years now, the Saw franchise has returned again and again to give movie goers a requisite helping of twisty, convoluted plots, rusty torture mechanisms, and Tobin Bell. Of course, like so many long-running franchises, the series seemed to have succumbed to the curse of diminishing returns. The first entry in the series was fresh, original, and highly creative, and the next two sequels lived up to its spirit ably. Then the fourth film came and the series started to get pretty confusing, and the fifth film was just …well…”atrocious” is the only word that springs to mind. It would seem to follow that the latest entry in the saga should be another stinker – potentially even worse than the last – but I am here to tell you that that’s definitely not the case.
To try and summarize the plot of the series thus far would be a monumental task, what with all the plot twists and the massive body count accrued over the course of the last five films. Suffice to say that Jigsaw and his protegé Amanda are dead, and the sinister Detective Hoffman has stepped in to continue Jigsaw’s game. In this latest film, Hoffman, now aided by Jigsaw’s ex-wife Jill, is continuing his spree of doling torturous lessons to people that don’t seem to really appreciate their own lives. Of course, things get tricky for Hoffman as the FBI is now on his trail, and he must set a new “game” in motion – one that ultimately serves to reveal Jigsaw’s master plan.
To be honest, I was incredibly surprised by this movie. I’ve been a big fan of the series ever since the first film came out, but I went into this one with amazingly low expectations, as the last film was such a disappointment. But this film was true return to form for the franchise.
The biggest kudos I can give this film is that it returned to the tried and true formula of putting Jigsaw at the forefront, exploring his twisted sense of justice and morality. Of course, Jigsaw did die a couple films ago, but the filmmakers have found clever and believable (at least for the Saw universe) ways of injecting him into the story. They’ve also done something commendable and used the movie to try and tell a story that is about more than a psychopath’s obsession with meting out his own brand of justice. Some may call the very obvious commentary on the American health insurance industry heavy-handed, but I personally find it admirable that in an age when there are so many pointless, poorly executed films being made, a film like Saw VI can come along and try to throw a little message, as obvious as it may be, at people.
As with any good Saw film, number VI here also features its fair share of plot twists, but unlike a few entries in the series, the major twists are quite surprising and add a good deal of depth to the mythos that has already been established. We get to learn a good deal more about Jigsaw’s battle with cancer, and we get a pretty shocking revelation about a key character.
Obviously, though, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about what is and always has been the center of this series: the traps. I can’t deny that I think this film featured some of the best traps and tests ever in any of the films. They’re also some of the most vicious and sadistic. I won’t ruin any surprises by going into detail about them, but of particular note is the opening “Pound of Flesh” test, as well as the final trap that I’ll just call the “Acid Needler.” Besides the creative traps, the gore effects are pretty top notch, without an ounce of blatant CGI, as far as I could tell.
In spite of all the good storytelling and special effects, Saw VI is far from a perfect film. There is some acting that is bad, which seems to have become the requisite, and if you’re unfamiliar with the previous entries in the series, the story can get pretty confusing. But even with these shortcomings, the film is an enjoyable and entertaining experience, and easily one of the best in the saga.
Director Kevin Greutert, a man no stranger to this horror universe as he’s edited every Saw film prior, writers Marcus Dunstan & Patrick Melton, who wrote IV, V, and this installment, and the rest of the people involved here have kind of done the unthinkable: they’ve breathed some new life into a franchise that many had thought was completely sunk. Clearly, Saw VI is not a film for everyone, and if you didn’t like any of the previous installments, you probably won’t enjoy this one either, but if you’re looking for a sick, twisted, and fairly suspenseful film to check out this Halloween season, give this one a look.
