Saw V

To say the least, I was NOT disappointed. I enjoyed the film as much as I thought I would. Going in, I had some doubts, what with a new director and this being a fifth installment in a horror series (they usually start sucking by the 3rd).

As soon as the opening credits start, you can already tell that a different director had his hands on the project. Acceptence doesn't take long to sink in though. As expected, the film meets the typical Saw requirements. Multiple traps and more revealing back-story.

Simply put, Saw V should not disappoint the loyal Saw fan. I know I'll be back for the next installment with bells on.

Seeing that this is the fifth film, you simply MUST see 1-4 in order to truly understand all the flashbacks. I don't want to give anything away, so all I will say is this: The very last trap in this film is one of my new favorites. . .

The Saw series has always been a standard of sorts. After what I felt was an iconic debut, the series has always remained consistently interesting, with one of the most compelling and ever expanding plots in film history. People may complain that the series is in decline, but what people need to realize is that each part is astronomically better than the corresponding parts of other horror series (for example, Saw IV is better than Halloween IV, or the 4th Nightmare on Elm Street film). The same holds true for Saw V, though the film definitely shows that the series is in decline and needs to end soon before it descends into pure absurdity.

A universal truth of the Saw series is that every entry, no matter who does it, will always be well written and contain a plot twist or two at the end. Again, Saw V continues the tradition of revealing the 'huge' (if you could call it that) twist whilst "Hello Zepp" by Charlie Clouser plays in the background. The film answers as many questions as it raises, and serves as more of an origin movie, like Saw IV did. Only this time, the origin doesn't focus on John Kramer/Jigsaw, and therein lies the problem.

Why does Saw V fail to impress me? Simple. Not enough Jigsaw. Tobin Bell, who has managed to create an iconic villain over the last 5 years, delivers another sublime performance that is not to missed in the world of horror as perhaps the greatest villain of the decade. It really amazed me how Saw IV had the best acting of the series, but just one movie later, pretty much every performer falls flat on their face. This is especially sad considering most of the cast are returning characters, except your typical "why is this happening to me! AHHH!" type characters (which got unbearably annoying, considering they killed off the two least annoying ones first). Meagan Good and Costas Mandylor are acceptable in their roles, however.

Back to the lack of Jigsaw. Tobin Bell really doesn't physically appear that much in the movie, and that is far and away its biggest flaw. The film is similar to Saw II more than the others. To get my drift a little better, imagine the second film, except reduce Jigsaw's screen time by about half. Yeah. This is the only weakness of the screenplay for me, which appears to have matured from the over the top torture porn in Saw III and the ridiculous attempt to run Saw IV concurrently with its predecessor. The film's biggest flaw is in the acting and lack of Jigsaw. Besides this, I really felt that it fit the mold as a worthy entry to the series.

After watching this, however, I no longer feel that Saw is the standard of excellence in horror as it once was. That said, the film has the advantage of being short and never dragging. It's well paced and will more than deliver the thrills. Another thing I feel obligated to mention is that this is the least scariest film in the series, which is okay, because unlike every other cheap horror film, Saw V doesn't try to be scary. It's more of a thriller with some gruesome images (like the first film) than a full blown horror movie (like parts II & III).

In the end, what it comes down to as far as your ability to enjoy the movie, you have to ask yourself this question: "why do I watch the Saw series?". If you watch it for the story and plot twists, you should be at least satisfied, if not entertained. If you watch the series for pure shock and awe and disgust, you'll be disappointed, because Saw V does not try to be a horror film outside of a few scenes. It's a decent entry to the series that is tolerable, despite a lack of the iconic Jigsaw, horrid acting, and a somewhat predictable plot twist (easily the most predictable of the series).

Yes, the Saw-franchise is beginning to get a bit tiresome. I'm still a fan of it thought but it needs some new fresh ideas fast.

Of course in essence all Saw movies are more or less the same. However all previous movies still knew to keep me interested and guessing throughout the entire movie. It still featured some surprising and interesting elements, while "Saw V" really doesn't feature any. No big surprises or twists here, not even at the ending, which in my opinion was a bit weak and disappointing. Normally the end of a Saw movie provides a big twists that will leave you shocked and stunned in your chair, for a few minutes after the movie has ended. I missed this in "Saw V".

The movie is also the least interesting Saw movie as of yet because it features some lazy writing. Normally Saw scripts are airtight ones but not this one sadly. It often takes the obvious paths.

Like always it is also featuring lots of different plot-lines and characters again, although in this case not all are connected well enough to each other. Seriously, what have all those people going to the Jigsaw-trails have to do with the rest of the movie its plot? It just seems to be there because its a Saw movie and it needs to feature all these sick and twisted games. The story lines don't ever really get together well enough. The movie again is also featuring lots of flashbacks, which shows events that happened in the previous movies, often seen from a different side this time but some of these flashbacks however are quite pointless for the movie once you start thinking about it.

I also blame Hoffman for it that this movie doesn't work out as good and interesting as any of the other sequels. He's the new Jigsaw and as of yet he also is the least interesting one. It probably also has to do with the fact that he is featured a lot in the movie, while Jigsaw normally always remain on the background. Also the reasons why he became the new Jigsaw, as gets shown in this movie, are a bit shaky and not exactly believable.

The movie itself is perhaps also lacking in one clear good main hero and character.

It still is a superior genre movie of course. It's concept alone is already good and interesting enough to please the genre fans and provides the potential for an infinitive amount of Saw-sequels. All Saw movies have a great look and atmosphere over them, though this one works out as the least effective one when it comes down to its atmosphere and horror/thriller elements because of the reason that this movie features very little new elements.

The Jigsaw games themselves also seem less innovative and clever. It's still gruesome and lots of bloods and guts can be seen flying around but it's just less surprising and shocking all.

Lets hope "Saw VI" will have some fresh new good ideas and a better script with some better- and more interesting characters in it.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

After so many sequels, one should expect a series to be driven to the ground. Although it's getting a bit tiring, Saw fans, & for that matter, fans of gore, shouldn't be disappointed with the fifth movie. Saw 5 still follows the same routine of the cat and mouse game... but of course, as always, telling you too much of the plot is a ruining the game for you. Let's keep it at the thin plot description already given: a detective goes out of his way to make sure that his secret is kept, before an agent uncovers his identity. The subplot involves 5 individuals who are somehow connected, and must work their way out of traps.

The traps still prove to be especially cruel, perhaps a little too cruel, but even that is worked into the story. It involves quite a bit of the past, much like Saw 4, it will give you more of the origin of the characters, whether it's needed or not. Minimizing flashbacks, it instead will fill in a number of plot and character holes.

This is David Hackl's directional debut. Considering he's been around since Saw 2 as production designer, this is a solid step forward. There's no doubt that these somehow ingenious, if not over the top story lines that interconnect were made up well after the fact, but that doesn't change the fact that the scriptwriters were keen on at least making an effort to do exactly that. Tie things in, making the package look neater, & hoping you don't think about it too much that you start to see the implausibility of it all.

If you have not seen the previous Saw's, you will be lost here, as you will be left with confusing tie in's and past incidents that mesh too well with the present. It's just not kind to new viewers.

All in all, I can't complain about Saw 5, because I got exactly what I expected. Clever, deadly traps, uncomfortable situations, & of course, the "twist" at the end. There's no denying that one particular actor that's been in all the Saw's is especially good at what he does.

For the most part, I would suggest waiting for a rental. I think that some viewers may grow tired of the series because it comes out every year. The nature of an audience viewing sequels is that it dwindles in number over time, as "sequelitis" sets in. But if you enjoyed the previous Saws & all their abusive, bloody, cruel, & heartless drama, you don't need me to suggest anything to you.

Given that the Saw films are notable for their unexpected plot twists, the fact that this was the most predictable one makes it difficult to see why it scored the "You won't believe how it ends" tagline. Otherwise, it's decent. It blows Saw III out of the water, but I don't feel it really compares to the other three. I can appreciate that they're trying to bring it back to what the original was all about; a brilliant plot with a couple of gory scenes (the previous two have been somewhat gore-laden with little story for my liking), the problem being, unfortunately, that the plot is fairly weak. The intensity of the torture scenes is greatly increased, though, by the rest period between them.

As a horror film, this works, but don't expect Saw - and don't expect to be blown away by the ending, because it is nothing special. That said, if you're addicted to the Saw saga as so many of us are, there's no harm in going out to see it.