Review- Saw

  SAW

  Suspension of disbelief is not a problem I usually have, but Saw crosses the line early on and stays there for the duration.  Every serial killer movie wants to be the next Se7en, and Saw tries its hardest to recreate the atmosphere of that film.  It succeeds for the most part- we have the gloomy and nameless city where it's always night time.  We have the killer with endless resources and time to create whatever sick games he wants to play.  We even have a tired black cop in pursuit, though he's not the focus of the movie and Danny Glover is given shamefully little to do.

  The great thing about Se7en was that while it might be a little far-fetched, it never strayed too far off course to be implausible.  The Deadly Sins are a nice tool to work with for a psycho with a purpose.  Kevin Spacey's villain wasn't trying to save anyone- he was making a point.  The villain in Saw challenges individuals to appreciate their lives but does so in an overly complex and inherently flawed way.  Would being forced to murder someone actually cure a drug addict of their habit?  This movie seems to think so.  Spacey tied people up and forced them to make choices.  Simple and effective.  Saw's bad guy builds elaborate mazes made of barbed wire or invents bear trap face masks.  It would be funny if the movie wasn't being serious. 

 The bar has been set by movies like Se7en and now it seems that every movie has to try and go higher.  Instead of making a straight up and honest edge of your seat thriller, the film makers seem concerned more with being one step ahead of the audience.  The twists and turns, plot devices, red herrings and surprise ending are supposed to shock and thrill us, but I was too busy laughing.  The entire premise is that stupid.

  Things do start out promising, however.  Two strangers awaken chained to the walls across from each other in a dirty public bathroom.  One is told he has to kill the other in order to go free.  If the movie had stayed in that room and watched these guys figure things out, I might have bought it.  By the time the movie runs through the gamut of invisible paint, one-way cell phones and of course, hacksaws, I was literally shaking my head at the utter implausibility.  Yes, it must be fun for serial killers to set up games of life and death for their victims, but how could anyone have possibly set all this up?  No one, not even perfectionist killers can predict what people will do in any given situation. 

  When a movie is supposed to take place in the real world, it's the little things that get you.  Tell me Mr. Killer, if the guy you had dumped in the bathtub for Scene 1 had drowned, what would you have done?  The whole premise of your game would have been shot to pieces!

1 star