Saw (Series) Review

So, this is an interesting series. 

I only started watching it after the entire series had ended, but out of curiosity, I decided to check out the first movie.

I was blown away. (Saw)

I had very low expectations for this movie. I expected a mindless gore-fest, but what I got was a surprisingly plot-driven film, that relied on physiological horror rather than actual violence. For some reason,  I like movie that take place in one small setting. Saw is almost entirely in one bathroom. Two men wake up, chained to two opposite sides of a disgusting bathroom and find a dead man between them. I won't say anything else because it'll ruin it. It's a great crime mystery, and expect a plot twist at the end and everything is connected.

This movie was indie and had a super low budget. The only set they actually built was the bathroom and the movie works well because it's so simple.
Despite having very little violence, this movie almost received an NC-17 rating, which is absurd. That's Hollywood. They know that no one will see a NC-17 movie, so the rating is much more strict for indie films. They'd rather promote their own big budget films.
The entire movie was filmed in just 18 days which is impressive but as a result there was a lot of missing footage. So, during editing, they had cuts to crime scene footage and newspaper clippings and they made the camera choppy and cut all over the place. The film was actually praised for having an "innovating" film style even though it was just to fill up space. Funny how that works out.
Never again would the series be this good.

So, I decided to watch the others. (Saw II)

I wanted to watch the plot continue, so I popped in Saw II. Again, I was impressed. It wasn't nearly as good as the first, but it was still not a bloody mess of a movie like I expected. The feeling of connectivity wasn't quite as prevalent, but it still had a pretty good twist at the end. Not a bad movie, but it's not a masterpiece by any means.

Originally, they weren't even going to make this movie but because the first was such a surprise hit, they decided to shit this one out. Because this movie was a rush job, they decided to take the script of another movie that was going to be made that was really similar to Saw and changed it around, which seems cheap but they claim that if you compared the original to the Saw II script, you wouldn't know they were the same.

Here's where the gore comes in. (Saw III)

Yeah, so this one is much more violent than the last two. That's not to say, it was random violence as I originally thought, there was still a plot, but it's gory as hell. This movie almost has a good message but fails to deliver it in the end and goes straight for the blood. The idea is forgiveness. The character has to decide to forgive people but manages to fail. An okay movie, but a terrible ending. This movie follows one character going through a sereis of traps involving saving other people. For whatever reason, this sort of order annoys me, but it is the pattern that the succeeding Saw movies would follow. Oh, well...

Again, this movie wasn't going to be made originally, but one of the original creators died, so they made it in dedication to him. Seems like a fucked up memorial but whatever...

We couldn't believe they were still making these... (Saw IV)

Saw IV is better than Saw III in my opinion. It's just as gory, if not worse, which is annoying if you're like me and you're trying to follow the plot but by the end of this movie the plot is so fucking convoluted it barely makes any sense. It has a pretty good twist ending. It also needs to be said that I love the opening to this movie. *SPOILER* After the mandatory trap scene, the movie begins and we see a autopsy of Jigsaw. When they take open his stomach, and there's a tape covered in wax which John presumably ate. It should also be noted that for a moment of Saw III, we can see him preparing this tape. Just a cool detail. Anyway, the tape essentially says, "You think this is over just because I am dead. You think you will walk away untested. I am still among you..." I got chills. Awesome way to start a movie

Possibly the worst tagline ever.

Still more tame than I expected. (Saw V)

This one is still pretty good. In this one we have five people all partaking in the same traps. Jigsaw says that they're all self-centered and only look out for themselves. Because of this, they end up competing instead of working together. Of course they're all connected but the connection they discover at the end is pointless and changes nothing. It's like they only threw it in there to make it seem like the movies still had some plot twists in them. They don't. The story is extremely confusing in this movie. I have no idea why all of the sudden they're throwing Hoffman into all of this and I'm getting tired of finding out that there's some new guy who' been working behind the scenes the whole time, at least it's still trying to be connected with the first movie. And for some reason, I love the ending.

Pictured: Hoffman

Here's where the gore was hiding (Saw VI)

Right from the get go, this movie doesn't fuck around. Two people are in a trap where they have to cut off parts of themselves and throw it onto a scale. The one with more weight survives. Nasty, The main plot focuses on the head of a health insurance company, and Jigsaw forcing the man to live by his own brutal logic. Jigsaw hates the idea of this man choosing who lives or dies. This one is okay but, like Saw III, suffers from a terrible ending that seems to give off the message that violence solves everything.

Oh, my God... (Saw VII)

Saw VII, also known as Saw: The Final Chapter, also known as Saw: Endgame, also known as Saw 3D. I have a lot to say about this film and as the latter title suggests this movie is just full of horrible 3D gimmicks. This movie is just atrocious... it was the only one where I just couldn't wait for it to end. The Gore is unbelievably over the top and unnecessary and you can tell this entire movie was a rush job.

For starters, the directer didn't even want to make it. He was on his way to start another movie but he was under contract and had no choice. He hated the script and wanted to change it but the sets had already been built and there was no going back. Because Saw VI did the worst out of all of the movies as far as profit goes, Saw VIII, the movie that was intended to be the last, was canceled and the combined with the script of Saw VII. As a result, we have two totally unrelated plots running parallel. The plots have nothing to do with each other. I've always praised the Saw films for using very little CG (which you'll come to find is something I have a bad relationship with) which made the movies seem more real but not in this piece of shit. All of the gore, or most of it, and other effects are CG and it looks rushed and fake. As for the first plot, it's depressing and leaves you feeling cheated out of a halfway decent ending. The second plot is actually interesting. We finally find out what happens immediately after the events of Saw and the scenes with Dr. Gordon are the only scenes worth watching. Honestly, the only thing I like about this movie is the ending. It's pretty satisfying.
I simply don't understand this film. I have no idea what was done that ends Jigsaw's legacy. Why does Jigsaw suddenly want everyone he was working with dead? And besides, what was the point of all of Jigsaw's work? To test a bunch of random people? Why stop all of the sudden? Why not just continue the legacy forever? And besides, and SPOILER ALERT not like it matters but, wouldn't it have been more interesting if Lawrence had returned, vengeful? It would've made it much more satisfying to see him finally put Jigsaw through the same hell he'd been through. I'd like that much more than seeing him become Jigsaw's follower. The way it ends has no closure. What's Lawrence going to do now? Be another Jigsaw? Nothing has changed. Terrible movie. Just look up the last scene and you'll be fine.

What they should've done instead

Well, of course I'd say that the first should've stood alone and not have had any sequels. But if it was totally unavoidable, I'll try my best to figure out what would've made it a better series.

What I could probably say would be the best thing would be to ditch one of the two plots running through each movie. After Saw II, each movie tends to have both the plot of the police trying to find Jigsaw and then the plot of some guy going through a bunch of tests. These two parts of the movies feel very detached from each other and it gives the films a weird feel, like what's happening is pointless. If they took out one of these it'd be better. Preferably the part that's about people going through a series of tests because it's repetitive and makes it into torture porn. I much prefer the crime side of it, more like the first one with all the mystery and plot twists which began to die down as the films went on. If they simply must have had their gore, then they should've ditched the crime side of it and just turned it into an anthology sort of series. At least then it wouldn't feel so shoddy.

All in all?

It's too bad the series took this direction, and as a critic said, "It's unfortunate the series pandered to the 'What would it look like [if we did this], audience." I wish they had stuck with the physiological horror and while I have a great number of complaints, what I can say is that at the very least, it's good that they tried to keep it plot driven throughout the series. Oh, well...