Saw IV Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)October 30th, 2007
SAW IV
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2007 David N. Butterworth
** (out of ****)
After yet another grisly discovery (the bloody aftermath of an overweight child molester/rapist gone to pieces), an FBI agent wonders how the killer ever got all that stuff, all of those mechanized instruments of torture, into a motel room.
This observation is, perhaps, the first recognition on the part of the writers of the "Saw" films that the logic behind their plotlines is sorely lacking--those responsible for the atrocities have to be the hardest working killers in the biz!
"Piece by piece" is the pat answer her partner provides, somewhat dismissively, but that better explains how the victims are carried out than how the elaborate death traps are carted in.
"Saw IV," the latest in the just-in-time-for-Halloween franchise, isn't too concerned about the whys and wherefores as it is the execution of its diabolical deaths. After all, the filmmakers haven't allowed the demise of psycho killer Jigsaw aka John Kramer (Tobin Bell) and his willing apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) at the end of "Saw III" to stand in the way of more torturous head games. Unlike Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, Jigsaw is unquestionably deceased, a fact the opening autopsy sequence makes viscerally clear. But there are flashbacks and pocket tape recorders by the caseload and an unknown entity bent on furthering Jigsaw's grisly work in this installment (not to mention that creepy cackling clown puppet with the swirly red cheeks).
Darren Lynn Bousman's film--he also directed II and III--centers on a SWAT commander, Sergeant Rigg (Lyriq Bent), whose colleagues have been dropping like flies, arousing the suspicion of the FBI agents (Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis) assigned to the case. Rigg himself, however, is attacked in his home and awakens with the knowledge that he has 90 minutes to perform several unpalatable tests in order to save detectives Matthews and Hoffman, both of whom have been abducted by Jigsaw's latest crony and whose lives hang in the balance.
The one thing these films have going for them is creativity and in that regard "Saw IV" does not disappoint. Of course, the creativity in question equates almost exclusively to inventive forms of killing (fostered by self-mutilation) so one's appreciation of the screenwriters' "vision" is a matter of personal (dis)taste. "Saw IV" also attempts to link the actions of its protagonists with events from the previous three films. This might prove eye opening if you just so happen to have watched "Saw" I through III back-to-back in an all-night, All Hallows movie marathon; if not, the connections serve only as a Jigsaw puzzle.
With John Kramer officially dead, the flashbacks provide odious exposition to the madman's raison d'être as well as giving the popular Bell significant screen time. Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill (Betsy Russell) is also dragged into the proceedings, providing the FBI profilers with a convenient verbal punching bag. And as usual there's that neat little "summation" sequence near the end, underscored by those cutting "Saw" harmonics.
But the games, the traps, are still the thing and as long as Jigsaw's flunkies build 'em, we will come. Till this time next year, then...
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David N. Butterworth
[email protected]
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
