Jigsaw I Saw Saw Should You See Saw

It was always pretty difficult to believe that the Saw franchise was really and truly dead. After all, you don’t permanently kill a cash cow that, even at its lowest, was making back several times its budget. And now that the Paranormal Activity series is – for now – leaving cinema screens alone on Halloween, it’s time for the Saw franchise to make its return. It’s doing so with Jigsaw, which despite its title is just another Saw movie. It isn’t more focused on its eponymous character than any of the others. In fact, it’s probably less about him than a few of the previous chapters are. Assuming you either don’t know what happens in these movies or have forgotten, here’s a refresher. John Kramer (Tobin Bell), who went by the nickname “Jigsaw,” captured people he didn’t like and made them play a “game,” which almost always resulted in their death. He eventually died in movie three and had several disciples carrying on his legacy afterward. Well, there’s another game being played in Jigsaw, leading detectives and morticians alike to wonder if the man we saw die and whose body would have long since decomposed has returned from the grave. The answer will not shock you – or will it? The traps are, honestly, pretty pedestrian as far as these things go. There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen a variation of in the past. I guess that familiarity will be comforting to fans who are just glad that the franchise is back in any way, but if you’re looking for something fresh or creative, you’ll want to look elsewhere. Jigsaw won’t provide that. In fact, this seems like a deliberate decision by the filmmakers. This is essentially a “stripped-down” Saw movie – on that isn’t overloaded with all the continuity and details that bogged down some of the later installments. It’s a fresh start and a soft reboot. But you had seven years to come up with cooler traps than these! I feel like that’s not asking for too much. We’ll forgive bad acting or writing if we get to see someone go through a creative torture device. I don’t know what that says about us as an audience, but that’s how it goes. The movies try to morally justify it – only bad people wind up in Jigsaw’s game – but it’s kind of depraved any way you look at it. Bottom Line: Jigsaw provides the franchise with a soft reboot but forgets to give audiences the thrills and creativity we want from it. Recommendation: Only hardcore Saw fans should give Jigsaw a shot. [rating=2]