Cinemaddiction
"Saw"
Lion's Gate Films, on the heels of disasters such as "Godsend" and "The Punisher" was poised to breathe new life into the Horror genre with their latest offering, "Saw," starring Cary Elwes and Monica Potter. In typical LGF fashion, they failed.
"Saw" is a twisted story of appreciation. Dr. Larry Gordon (Elwes) has it all. A career as a prominent doctor, a beautiful wife and daughter, and something we all take for granted, our health. Enter "Jigsaw." A man who knows of the good doctors dirty little secret, and feels it's his responsibility to teach him, like he had many others, how to appreciate what they have. Catapulted into the most extreme situation, being isolation with little chance of escape, Gordon and Adam are confined to an a filth ridden, decaying bathroom of sorts, pinned deep below the city streets. The game is survival and the reward is both their lives, and a sense of gratitude.
To me, the biggest flaw in "Saw" is the casting. Elwes portrayal of desperation was amateur, and almost comical in the way he overacted the extreme mood swings his character under gone. From pushy know-it-all doctor, to overtly effeminate "man in distress," he did nothing to drive home the imminent danger of the dire straits he and the mousy Adam were placed in. Danny Glover seemed as if he were on autopilot, going through the motions with his contrived lines.
The "Se7en" similarities are few and far between. There are some visually appealing pieces, involving obscure torture devices and the like, but those too are virtually ruined by seizuring camera work, obscure angles, and a distorted, deafening soundtrack. "Saw" could only dream of achieving the level of sheer uneasyness and provocative visual mayhem as it's far superior counterpart.
To the film's credit, the story was fresh, original, and indeed well written. It's problems lied in execution, and failure to deliver a true sense of urgency. The closing moments did provide some honest scenes of high tension. Unfortunately, the feature took a swan dive directly into a cliched scene of female aggression, lifted directly of an Ashley Judd thriller. Coupled with mindnumbing, rapid fire plot twists, Elwes' Razzie worhty incoherent stuttering, and a hint of Michael Douglas' "The Game", "Saw" tied up it's loose ends so to speak in record time.
The website, www.sawmovie.com, is more worth your while, and heck, it's free.
Lion's Gate Films, on the heels of disasters such as "Godsend" and "The Punisher" was poised to breathe new life into the Horror genre with their latest offering, "Saw," starring Cary Elwes and Monica Potter. In typical LGF fashion, they failed.
"Saw" is a twisted story of appreciation. Dr. Larry Gordon (Elwes) has it all. A career as a prominent doctor, a beautiful wife and daughter, and something we all take for granted, our health. Enter "Jigsaw." A man who knows of the good doctors dirty little secret, and feels it's his responsibility to teach him, like he had many others, how to appreciate what they have. Catapulted into the most extreme situation, being isolation with little chance of escape, Gordon and Adam are confined to an a filth ridden, decaying bathroom of sorts, pinned deep below the city streets. The game is survival and the reward is both their lives, and a sense of gratitude.
To me, the biggest flaw in "Saw" is the casting. Elwes portrayal of desperation was amateur, and almost comical in the way he overacted the extreme mood swings his character under gone. From pushy know-it-all doctor, to overtly effeminate "man in distress," he did nothing to drive home the imminent danger of the dire straits he and the mousy Adam were placed in. Danny Glover seemed as if he were on autopilot, going through the motions with his contrived lines.
The "Se7en" similarities are few and far between. There are some visually appealing pieces, involving obscure torture devices and the like, but those too are virtually ruined by seizuring camera work, obscure angles, and a distorted, deafening soundtrack. "Saw" could only dream of achieving the level of sheer uneasyness and provocative visual mayhem as it's far superior counterpart.
To the film's credit, the story was fresh, original, and indeed well written. It's problems lied in execution, and failure to deliver a true sense of urgency. The closing moments did provide some honest scenes of high tension. Unfortunately, the feature took a swan dive directly into a cliched scene of female aggression, lifted directly of an Ashley Judd thriller. Coupled with mindnumbing, rapid fire plot twists, Elwes' Razzie worhty incoherent stuttering, and a hint of Michael Douglas' "The Game", "Saw" tied up it's loose ends so to speak in record time.
The website, www.sawmovie.com, is more worth your while, and heck, it's free.