Review: Saw IV
Be warned there as MAJOR SPOILERS in this review, but it’s a fuckin Saw movie what the fuck do you care?
Saw 4 is always gonna be remembered as the beginning of the end for the franchise, after a brilliantly original first outing followed by two very good sequels the series could’ve (and should’ve) ended. After all, Jigsaw was dead, Amanda was dead, there was no-one left. Until this sequel. While not an awful film it’s weak compared to the last three films and completely unnecessary, the few things it does well are overshadowed by what it gets wrong.
For starters the story is poor, similar to the last film it’s stretched but while that was covering just two plots, one really good, the other not so much, this one has about three or four and none of them getting the time they need. The first story involves Riggs, the black side character with four lines in the last film who is apparently obsessed with finding his ex-partner Matthews from the second film, Jigsaw plays on this obsession and has Riggs take a test in order to save the still living Matthews. Matthews is in the second storyline which is only touched on occasionally and features him and another previous side character, Hoffman, trapped together by a former lawyer who used to work for Jigsaw.
The third plot line involves some other policeman - I think his name is Shaltz, I really don’t know - trying to find a mysterious third culprit in the Jigsaw games. This was awful, the guy decided there was a third member based on 5 seconds of glancing at a crime scene, and even getting past that, the idea of a third accomplice is just stupid and they don’t even go anywhere with it, they bring it up once or twice then drop it until the end. The fits in with our forth and final plot, the flashbacks to how John Kramer became Jigsaw, I didn’t like these because I would’ve preferred Jigsaw stay a mystery, but since Jigsaw is the most interesting character it was what I liked the most out of what I was given.
Speaking of characters, these are easily the weakest I’ve seen in a Saw film, it’s not like a slasher film which can get away with bad characterisation because the kids are gonna get murdered, here the play a big part in the plot but they’re so poorly written it’s hard to care. I could honestly write one line about any of the main characters and that’s they’re whole persona.
Riggs is obsessed which makes him the flawed protagonist. Shaltz is angry which makes him a good cop. Hoffman is creepy which makes him the villain despite not having anything to do with the story. I really can’t say anything for them, the fact that I can remember their names is a fuckin miracle.
Despite the fact that I didn’t like the flashbacks, it did give us Jigsaw and he’s always good to watch, I still wish I never saw how he became a serial killer but I did and it makes sense, plus I guess seeing his early days is a nice touch.
On the directing front they bring back Darren Lynn Bousman for a third effort and I’ll be honest it feels very much like he’s going through the motions, he’s using all the same tricks he did in the last two films and brought nothing new to the table, the ultra fast editing, the frantic camera, yadda, yadda. I’d be fine with it, if this wasn’t the same crap I saw in the other films.
Sticking with the direction, I found a lot of the major plot points were discovered far too easily, mostly it was from Shaltz who could walk into a room and immediately tell you the necessary exposition within ten second. It was just annoying. Same with how well Jigsaw plans everything, I mean I know he’s good but there’s planning and then there’s psychic.
That’s not to say the film was a total bust, it moved at a good enough pace so I was never bored, the fact that everyone Rigg’s has to save or let die is a criminal was a good idea executed poorly. And the twist, while more convoluted than the previous films, it worked, I’m not talking about the Hoffman villain twist - fuck that - no I mean the whole thing regarding Rigg’s obsession being too much and ultimately leading to his failure, that was a nice touch.
Mostly thought the film features some good traps, nothing to write home about but this is the first film where the traps made me wince and that’s the best compliment I can give them. The hair pulling trap was pretty sick, the bedroom trap with the eye gouging was hard to watch, I’m giving the sickest trap to the knives on the face because that was really painful to witness.
Overall, it’s not a good film, it continues a story that it doesn’t need to, the characters are weak and the plot is stretched too thin. However I never hated it, it gets a few things right and it is watchable. If you’re a fan of the first three then I think you can watch this, if not then I don’t know what you’ll get out of this other than a waste of 90 minutes.
5/10