Saw 3
Review
by Guy Davis
When
it comes to movie sequels, the law of diminishing returns usually tends
to kick in around the third instalment. Many a promising franchise or
acclaimed series has gone right off the rails when the filmmakers have
taken that third trip back to the well. So I have to admit that my expectations weren’t high for Saw III
- not only because it was the third movie in the remarkably successful
string of low-budget horror flicks, but because the Saw movies have generally been an unpalatable combo of grimy, gore-stained shocker and pretentious social commentary. I won’t say my admittedly low expectations were exceeded, but Saw III
certainly earned a bit of admiration from me for both its ambition in
weaving a slightly deeper and more complex tale than usual and for
really ramping up the nastiness to 11. The gist of the Saw
story is this: a terminally ill chap who goes by the name of Jigsaw
(Tobin Bell) has decided to teach people failing to display enough joie
de vivre the error of their ways. If they won’t appreciate the
miracle of life, then Jigsaw will remind them by hook or by crook (and
it’s usually by hook or some other sharp object). The thing about
Jigsaw is he’s not a maniacal killer per se. He simply places people in
elaborate life-or-death situations that require them to do something
pretty painful or gross to liberate themselves. If they can’t or won’t,
well, that’s their problem. In the first Saw,
he pulled just such a trick on the drug-addicted Amanda (Shawnee
Smith), strapping a big metal bear-trap to her head and threatening to
set it off unless she performed some exploratory surgery on a fellow
junkie - she had to slice open the living person’s belly and fish
around for the key to the trap. In Saw II,
it was revealed that Amanda hadn’t taken offence at Jigsaw’s test but
had in fact become her tormentor’s apprentice, helping him put a whole
new group of victims through the wringer. And in this new movie,
Amanda has kidnapped troubled surgeon Lynn (Bahar Soomekh) in a bid to
save the life of the rapidly ailing Jigsaw. Meanwhile, Jigsaw and
Amanda have also abducted Jeff (Angus MacFadyen), who has been left a
broken men after a drunken driver killed his young son. In a twist on the usual Saw
shenanigans, it’s the people who’ve added to Jeff’s pain - a lenient
judge, an uncooperative witness - undergoing Jigsaw’s tortures. Jeff
could easily sit back and watch these people suffer. But Jigsaw
believes that if Jeff forgives them and frees them from their pain, he
will free himself from his own self-imposed suffering. Of course, being
a Saw movie, things always end up a bit messy... In fact, it almost goes without saying that Saw III is extremely bloody, brutal and sadistic. How it landed an MA rating is beyond me. The
efforts by director Darren Lynn Bousman and Aussie screenwriter Leigh
Whannell to introduce a little depth, shading and ambiguity into this
chamber of horrors are noteworthy. But it doesn’t really change the
fact that Saw III is more of the same - it’s unnecessarily convoluted, dripping with empty style and jam-packed with hammy acting. Credit
must go to craggy character actor Bell, however, who brings a creepy
conviction to his work as Jigsaw, a man utterly convinced of the
rightness of his horrible actions. While not quite a horror-movie
icon in the vein of Freddy or Jason, Jigsaw still does a bloody good
job of getting the hairs on the back of one’s neck upstanding. 2.5 out
of 5
Saw III
Australian release: 2nd October, 2006
Cast: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus McFayden, Dina Meyer
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Website: Click
here.
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