'Saw III'

'Saw III' Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Bahar Soomekh, Angus MackFadyen, & Dina Meyer Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman Written by: Leigh Whannell Produced by: Peter Block, Jason Constantine, Daniel J. Heffner, Stacey Testro, James Wan, & Leigh Whannell Rated: R for strong grisly violence and gore, sequences of terror and torture, nudity & language.

Lately Dr. Lynn Denoln (Bahar Soomekh) has been going through some marital problems and the anxiety is beginning to affect her work. Late one night after finishing her shift at the hospital she is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse. Shortly after waking up, she soon meets the notorious Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). He is currently dying slowly as the minutes pass and Amanda (Shawnne Smith), Jigsaw's sidekick, tells Lynn she has been kidnapped in order to keep him alive. Alive long enough for someone else that's also been kidnapped named Jeff (Angus MacFadyen), to complete his very own game. While telling Lynn this, Amanda places a collar around Lynn's neck that is connected to Jigsaw's heart rate. If his heart rate drops below zero before Jeff completes his game, the shotgun shells on the collar will all simultaneously go off at the same time. Amanda then preps Lynn as Jigsaw explains, "it's a test of will. It's a test to see just how willing you are to keep someone alive". Lynn realizes she has no choice, and so the game begins. Jeff must now navigate through a series of tasks where he is promised his chance to get revenge on the man responsible for his son's death. Something he has wanted every day for the last three years. Both Lynn and Jeff are now each tangled in a horrid game of survival. What they don't know is their games are merely stepping stones to the true reason they are involved with Jigsaw's latest puzzle.

First off, I have to admit I was a little turned off to 'Saw III' earlier this week after months of having much anticipation, when I heard it was guaranteed that there would be a 'Saw 4' if 'III' did well opening weekend. I feared then, and still do slightly, that the 'Saw' franchise will become what 'Friday the 13th' did: a series of films where only the first few were considered good. Once I was sitting in my seat at the theater though, and the film began I was vastly interested far more than I imagined I would be. This 'Saw' has so much story in it than the previous two had, and really more than most horror films today do. Much of it is told generally with various flashbacks. Even by following the story closely, the final twist probably won't be known to you until its unveiling. It's in the twist that a tiny smidgen of a problem exists.

It's obvious that the twist was meant to shock the audience in a big way. Maybe it does catch most people by surprise, but for me didn't. Not that it isn't good, it just didn't come across the way it should have. It gave me a, oh...okay feeling rather than a, holy sh*t reaction. This minor flaw doesn't hinder the film's poise at all though. It still remains interesting to the very last minute.

The only real letdown in the film are some of the traps. In all there is a total of six physical ones. These devices of torture and terror are what many of people who love the 'Saw' series look forward to most. Out of the six, only two were what I'd say good. Yes, all of them can kill, but four of them seemed boring and livid. I'm not sure what happened here. Although, this doesn't destroy the movie, in a small way it does take away from it. Even so, the two good traps almost make up for the others.

So basically, 'Saw III' is somewhat better than I expected. It borders very closely to the feel of the first, which is a definite plus. Most satisfying though is that it wasn't the least bit dismal. Never was there a dull moment, even with the few shoddy traps. Now that 'Saw III' is done and over with though, it only makes me question what '4' have in store for us. Yes, Tobin Bell was contracted for five films permitting each is considered a success, but now that director Bousman and writer Whannell have decided to step aside and leave the series alone, I can only wonder two things. Will 'Saw' become a victim of its own game? Just how long can the series go on before it suffers the fate Jason Voorhees did?
 

 
Originally written on Oct. 28 2006.