Saw V

Saw V – 2008

*Note, while there are no spoilers, this review has been written with the belief that those reading it have either seen the previous Saw instalments, or never intend to.*

Despite what many tout as a downward trend when looking at the Saw films, I have felt the opposite. While original, I found James Wan’s first instalment to be at times horrendously acted and weakly scripted despite being modestly successful overall. When Darren Lynn Bousman took the helm for Saw II, III and IV things greatly improved along with the aid of an inflated budget. Following last years Halloween release of Saw IV, which is my favourite in the series, is Saw V which leaves Bousman behind and snaps up a first time director named David Hackl. His inexperience most certainly bares all here, as this bloody sequel is lacking in nearly every vein of its construction and is certainly the worst of the bunch.

But perhaps Hackl is not all to blame. Up until Saw IV there were an abundance of characters to weave and thread through the parallel plot lines of the films. But with the death of Jigsaw in Saw III, and everything all but explained about his past in IV, the character of John Kramer (Tobin Bell) has nothing more to add to the story. The back-story exhibited here adds nothing, except a mostly perfunctory look at the recruitment of Det. Mark Hoffman, as this is really the only thing anyone wants to know. All other aspects of the story are shoehorned in, and only beg to ask more questions. Long gone are all the existing characters, save of course Agent Strahm, and as such, why should we care about what happens to anybody. The superfluous character of Det. Erickson as the newest sucker to hunt Jigsaw’s apprentice is introduced, along with a slew of new victims to duke it out for the change to be reborn.

Following the revelation that Det. Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is in fact Jigsaw’s second apprentice, the origins and motivations of Hoffman’s conversions are explored. Escaping from Hoffman’s ensnarement in Saw IV, Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) hunts for who he know is an insider in the police force. Meanwhile, Hoffman has trapped 5 people with a hidden common denominator between them in a multi-stage trap, which will put Darwin’s survival of the fittest to the ultimate test.

Another glaring folly of this instalment is the blandness of the torture contraptions. I by no means have a thirst for blood, but when watching Saw, I at least want ingenuity. After the fantastic imaginings of Saw IV, we are subjected to scenarios such as “find the key before the bomb goes off” and “electrocute someone to save yourself”. (Checks watch) There is one fully realized device which may make you think twice about donating blood in the future, as well as a nifty trap featuring a swinging sickle of sorts, but unfortunately this piece of hardware is accompanied by a small twist that has been done already in Saw III.

The Saw series, above most everything else is about the revelatory twist which all fans crave. The tagline of Saw V boasts “You won’t believe how it ends” and that, in a backhanded way, is true. Shockingly, there is no big shock in Saw V, no mind-busting twist, only a series of small realizations, which I had deduced on my own long before hand. Perhaps they forgot? Too busy counting their money, maybe? Alas, this film left me wanting, but you can still call me a fan. So here’s to hoping that the 6^th (and supposedly final) step in this grisly game will pull its predecessor out of the doldrums it has created, for this Saw is certainly much too dull to make a lasting impression.