Tagline: The traps come alive
Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Cary Elwes, Sean Patric Flanery
Plot: Self help guru and survivor of Jigsaws game Bobby Dagen starts a new batch of life or death games. While Hoffman tries to protect himself and the Jigsaw legacy from being exposed.
My Take: Saw VII, Saw 3D, or whatever you want to call is a movie that was made for 1 of 3 people; the die hard fans, the ones that want to see how it ends, or the ones that like to see morbid deaths. Now I am one of those that wanted to see how they ended it and also see some cool deaths because that is the staple of the saw films…lets face no one cares about jigsaw (sorry Tobin Bell). But the movie left me disappointed because what made it great, all the cringing gross over the top deaths seemed bland and boring. The story and twists were predictable as always but unlike the other saw films you didn’t have that satisfaction of finding out you were right.
As I said before I wanted to see how the traps and the deaths happened and the ending of the Saw Saga because well lets face it I invested a lot of time and money into these films. And I must say I was disappointed in both. The 3D film making was not used wisely. You see a spear fly at you, a jaw flies at you maybe a little splatter here and there…and that’s pretty much it. The Blood effects and color reminded me of George A Romeos 1970s Dawn of The Dead with the lighter shade of blood and fake looking skin strecthing. It would would have worked well if the film was made in the 70s. The games were themed again which means if a victim used his or her voice to harm people….then they would have to have their voice box removed (which was one of the games) and the rest of games of course involved all those around Bobby being killed because they helped him spread the lies that he created to get rich. And compared to some of the traps in the previous Saw films these were tame which bummed me out. I wanted to cringe in my seat like I did when Shawnee Smith was pushed into the needle pit in Saw II. It was fun however to see Chester Bennington from Linkin Park fly through a windshield because he failed to pull his stitched body out of car.
*SPOILER* Now the twist was the worst part of the film…and as noted above the twist was predictable and I will tell you why…filmmakers seem to think that if you introduce a character at the beginning of a film and don’t mention him till the end then they hope you forget about him and be surprised when he returns. Well that was the step they took in this film. You see Cary in the beginning as a flashback to the first film. You see Cary at Dagens “Jigsaw Survivalist meeting” then you see him in the twist flashback…where you should go “OMG that was a TWIST” but instead makes you go…”are you serious he was helping Jig Saw this whole time so lame and out of all the sequels you find out now”, that was my actual quote. And the most tragic part is that they left it with the Hanging ending. Like in Saw II it ends with Cary’s Character locking Hoffman in the dungeon in the dark....I’m going to assume if they made enough money on this one you can expect, and I cringe when I say this, a Saw 8....I hope im wrong.
Social Commentary: Despite everything I didn’t like about the movie there was one scene that made me feel like I was watching a dark glimpse of society. The trap was set in a fiberglass case and spectators started to gather when the game started. Now when the trap started people started filming on their camera phones instead of calling for help. They watched the undignified death of a young woman with minimal help. Now I couldn’t help but think…is this what our society is becoming. With all the snuff films on the internet and tragic clips we see…why do we have a need to see it. Why are we so compelled to see the demise and torture of others around us. Have we become so custom to seeing death and tragedy that we need to see it, record it, and indulge ourselves in it.
Biggest Question: In regards to the trap mentioned above, how come no one noticed people shackled to a buzz saw…I get that it was part of an already standing display but still…did no one look at display the whole day or night prior to the game starting. Also why didn’t anyone notice someone dragging 3 bodies into the case. And tying them up…was I the only one confused by this. At least the other places the traps were held were isolated. This place was public. I wish they would explain that one.
Biggest Question: In regards to the trap mentioned above, how come no one noticed people shackled to a buzz saw…I get that it was part of an already standing display but still…did no one look at display the whole day or night prior to the game starting. Also why didn’t anyone notice someone dragging 3 bodies into the case. And tying them up…was I the only one confused by this. At least the other places the traps were held were isolated. This place was public. I wish they would explain that one.
Final Thought: Don’t see this movie. IF you must then be warned…you are wasting time and money even if it’s the dollar at red box. The 3D effects were disappointing, the story was lame, the blood and effects were some of the worst I have seen and over all it was just a disappointment.
I give it ½ a cheery cheese danish
I was scared as heck-- like I am with all the saw movies-- every time I always think about a copy cat executing some of these traps/ games and wonder what the heck my trap would be..... but in hindsight I was seriously disappointed too-- (I thought Chester was glued to the seat-- that whole-- hmm stitched.....)-- there was a lot of open ended questions that are raised-- many that you already did-- I also wondered what about the guy (who was going through the traps the whole time)-- didn't he survive?? wasn't he left on the floor of the room where his wife was incinerated ??
ReplyDeletethere is a small part of me that would like to see another one just to wrap it all up-- but I think heard tell that this was the last one. I agree on the 3D element being used poorly. When I got into the movie theater with my dad and little sister I was too scared to put them (glasses) on--because I (and kid sister) are die-hard fans of the movies and I thought I knew what to expect from this one.....but.. yea...a little let down.
Over all I think the scarier thing, for me, is being alone with my imagination and thoughts AFTER the movie-- like I sad before-- designing my own demise should this ever happen.....