SAW Week: Saw 3D (The Final Chapter) (2010)

And so we come to the end of 'Saw Week' with the worst film in the entire franchise. I apologize to 'Saw IV' and 'V' because I had yet to watch this stinker beforehand. Whereas those were simply missteps that some might enjoy, this 3D entry is hard for anyone to enjoy. Perhaps if this stunt was done to an earlier sequel during the height of the series it might have been forgiven as a simple gimmick and some dumb fun. However, this is meant to be the final send off for the series as a whole (or at least until 2017) and it is a major failure. Firstly, let's get the 3D out of the way: it sucks. It simply sucks, and its not even that it simply throws sharp and pointy objects at the audience but it doesn't even do it enough times throughout its short running time to justify the format. In fact, after sitting down and reviewing the film over last night I realized that only one trap scenario even takes advantage of the 3D while the rest are simply post rendered.

The laziness on hand doesn't stop there though, as we have some of the worst characters of the series in 'Final Chapter'. I seriously couldn't remember anyone's names with the exception of three and that's only due to them being constantly repeated both here and in the previous six films. 'Saw: The Final Chapter' goes like this: unknown people get killed by trap, Hoffman and Jill go after each other, more traps kill more nameless victims, Hoffman is captured by a group of Jigsaw followers and the film abruptly ends. Yes, they sequel bait even when the film is meant to be the finale and yes a lot of horror films do this but not this poorly or clumsily. The only good thing I can honestly say here is that the traps and their bloody aftermath are just as well done as they always are but if you don't even want to sit down and watch what's the point?

Now while I would never expect Shakespeare out of a film like this, this could have been so much more special. However, Hollywood greed and it's tendencies to follow a trend became its downfall. See, 'Paranormal Activity' was becoming the new kid in town, breaking box office records and was now the new tradition every Halloween. 'Saw' was now obsolete which led to Lionsgate rushing this flick out with a higher ticket price in a poor attempt to get its audience back. This did not happen and the film went on to bring in some of the worst ticket sales in the series history. Hopefully, with the decade long thought process and some actual talent behind the screen this time around 2017's 'Jigsaw' will bring back the yearly tradition and give us something worth watching. Unless you're a hardcore fan of 'Saw' or a completionist, there's no reason to see 'Final Chapter'. It's obvious rushed production led it to its grave as it should have.

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