Jigsaw returns to torture
Saw 5 continues the legacy
Melanie Mallory
Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Entertainment
The Saw series carried on this weekend with a fifth installment of thrills and chills for fans of guts and gore. Although a first-time director, David Hackl used his experience as the assistant director of Saw III & IV to fulfill eager fans' expectations.
The film renders a plot typical of the Saw films, featuring at least two parallel story lines. One story line shadows the investigations of jaded FBI detective Peter Strahm played by Scott Patterson.
After surviving one of the diabolical traps set up by the dead twisted genius Jigsaw, he spends the majority of his time investigating the hollow, robotic shell of a man, Detective Mark Hoffman, played by Costas Mandylor, whom Strahm suspects to be an apprentice of the infamous Jigsaw killer.
The other story line follows the experiences of five selfish, unhappy people forced to undergo horrible torture and violent challenges together. They are, of course, expected by the twisted mastermind to learn a moral lesson.
The death puzzles are new yet much the same. There's always a clever way out of the trap, but of course, no one in the audience is surprised to see the participants fail in various ways.
Each character has an individual personality, but it is easy to be emotionally unattached to them and shrug nonchalantly at the thought of them suffering a horrible and painful death. In some films, the audience develops an emotional attachment to the characters; this is not one of those films. Nonetheless, the puzzles themselves do not fail to keep one intrigued and wondering who will survive.
If one is not familiar with the previous four Saw films, it is easy to get confused in all the backstory presented while Agent Strahm tails Detective Hoffman.
Numerous flashbacks as well as the occasional clip from past films fill in some of the gaps, but the continual cuts to the past also make the film rough and erratic.
It is easy for a new viewer to get lost in all the references to past films and is molded for those already acquainted with past plotlines and characters.
Additionally, several mysteries pop up throughout the duration of the film that are left unanswered, and without revelations in the end. One can safely say the majority of the movie was a setup for Saw VI.
Overall, save for those diehard gore addicts, leaving the theatre, one feels a sense of disappointment and regretting the $6.50 investment.
The film renders a plot typical of the Saw films, featuring at least two parallel story lines. One story line shadows the investigations of jaded FBI detective Peter Strahm played by Scott Patterson.
After surviving one of the diabolical traps set up by the dead twisted genius Jigsaw, he spends the majority of his time investigating the hollow, robotic shell of a man, Detective Mark Hoffman, played by Costas Mandylor, whom Strahm suspects to be an apprentice of the infamous Jigsaw killer.
The other story line follows the experiences of five selfish, unhappy people forced to undergo horrible torture and violent challenges together. They are, of course, expected by the twisted mastermind to learn a moral lesson.
The death puzzles are new yet much the same. There's always a clever way out of the trap, but of course, no one in the audience is surprised to see the participants fail in various ways.
Each character has an individual personality, but it is easy to be emotionally unattached to them and shrug nonchalantly at the thought of them suffering a horrible and painful death. In some films, the audience develops an emotional attachment to the characters; this is not one of those films. Nonetheless, the puzzles themselves do not fail to keep one intrigued and wondering who will survive.
If one is not familiar with the previous four Saw films, it is easy to get confused in all the backstory presented while Agent Strahm tails Detective Hoffman.
Numerous flashbacks as well as the occasional clip from past films fill in some of the gaps, but the continual cuts to the past also make the film rough and erratic.
It is easy for a new viewer to get lost in all the references to past films and is molded for those already acquainted with past plotlines and characters.
Additionally, several mysteries pop up throughout the duration of the film that are left unanswered, and without revelations in the end. One can safely say the majority of the movie was a setup for Saw VI.
Overall, save for those diehard gore addicts, leaving the theatre, one feels a sense of disappointment and regretting the $6.50 investment.
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