JIGSAW (2017)

The 'Saw' films return seven years later and it's mostly more of the same old song and dance but has some spit and polish that makes it a little better than previous entries. Oddly, I think the biggest flaw here is that it speeds along so rapidly that I couldn't think straight for more than a few minutes leaving me with a lot of questions and at times frustrated. I understand that this is the eight entry in a long running franchise but it doesn't really excuse 'Jigsaw' for going a little too fast at times. It can also be incredibly confusing due to this sped up mentality. Even die hard fans of the series will tell you that the 'Saw' series can be very convoluted in its overall story and 'Jigsaw' is no different. Even once everything falls into place and it's all laid out and explained to you as in typical 'Saw' fashion at the end, it still just made me scratch my head for the most part and a lot of the "twists" felt a little too convenient for the sake of the villain's schemes. The film also abruptly ends without really connecting any of the previous entries to this one, leaving those unanswered questions at the end of 'Final Chapter' still unanswered. It's almost like they were attempting a sort of reboot while keeping most of the overall continuity which leads to a messy outcome.

What I did like about the film is that it's a very different looking film than the others, with a much warmer color palette and some more varied set pieces throughout. I also liked that they held back on the torture and gore just enough that when it does happen, it comes off as more shocking and grotesque. In that aspect, the film is more like the original but don't think of that as the film skimping on the kills because they are here and one particular one is pretty memorable. I think most horror and 'Saw' fans will enjoy the special effects work at hand here, even if it is less frequent. 'Jigsaw' has some of the worst acting of the series and that's saying something. A lot of the performances consist of unintelligible dialogue/screaming/crying or evil villain laughing while wringing hands together cringe worthy dialogue. A lot of the time, I simply had a headache listening to some of these idiots.

'Jigsaw' for the most part was a forgettable but painless experience that most horror fans could get a quick thrill from. It's better than the previous film and overall it's one of the best sequels in the series, but it feels ironically pieced together too quickly and shoved out despite a seven year gap to really do something different or better than what came before. It's more of the same but at least its more fun to watch this time around.

( C - )