A man suffering from terminal cancer decides to attack the people who cheated him about the existence of a miracle cure.
Who would have thought that when it was released in 2004, the film Saw, by James Wan, would become cult? Fans of gratuitous violence were well served with this particularly gory B series which would spawn an innumerable number of interchangeable sequels.
This 10th episode, which takes place a few weeks after the first volume, dares to modify its winning recipe. If there is no question of completely reshuffling the cards as did the previous Spiral which took itself for Seven (David Fincher’s classic has always been the main inspiration for the franchise), the change of perspective which is proposed is far from negligible. The spectator is no longer a prisoner alongside the victims who try to escape deadly traps, but rather he shares the daily life of the villain John Kramer (Tobin Bell) or, for short, Jigsaw.
This makes this exterminating angel figure more human, to give him motivation. It was enough for Tobin Bell to shine, offering his most vulnerable and emotional performance in the series. He is accompanied by Shawnee Smith who once again portrays his elusive apprentice.
This revolution does not prevent the feature film from collapsing under repetition. The scenario that would so much like to provoke moral dilemmas is only there to tickle the baser instincts. The characters have as much substance as puppets on borrowed time and the performers do it well.
Then there are all these torture games where individuals are called upon to dismember themselves in the most brutal way possible. However, there is nothing that has not already been seen in previous versions. Between homage and caricature, the line is sometimes thin, which the eye-catching production of Kevin Greutert (who directed Saw VI and Saw 3D) happily crosses.
Saw If another sequel ever sees the light of day, why not cross it with Fast
