Saw
3/4
Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Tobin Bell
The version being reviewed is unrated. For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Strong Grisly Violence and Language
I don't know if they exist in other cities (my guess is they do), but there are businesses called "escape rooms." The idea is to get a group of your friends and get "locked" in a room. To get out, you all have to band together to solve a series of puzzles that lead to a key that unlocks the door. I've done it once, and it's a lot of fun if you have the right people. "Saw" reminded me of this, although as spooky as the Halloween-themed ones are, I strongly doubt they are as gruesome as this movie.
Adam (Whannell) wakes up mysteriously submerged in a bathtub in the dirtiest bathroom imaginable. He isn't alone; also in the room is Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Elwes). Both are chained to rusted pipes. Tapes they find on themselves reveal that in order to get out alive, they have to kill the other. Meanwhile, an obsessed detective named Tapp (Glover) is on the trail of the fiend who put them there. Known as the Jigsaw Killer, Gordon points out that Jigsaw never "literally" killed anyone. He just sets them up in deadly traps that will kill them if they don't figure a way out.
In all honesty, "Saw" isn't that great of a movie. There are definitely moments of high tension, particularly at the end, which is devilishly clever (if contrived). However, they're offset by flat moments, sloppy screenwriting, and awful acting. Another run through on the screenplay could only have helped things. Ditto for more rehearsals.
Cary Elwes is a fine character actor. He's one of those "that guy" people you see every now and then. The villain in "Twister," the other guy in "Liar Liar," Matthew Broderick's right hand man in "Glory." For anyone who's counting, he's also provided voice work in two Studio Ghibli movies. He doesn't get the lead role very often ("The Princess Bride" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" are two examples). He's a light comic actor, so casting him in an intense role is a painful mistake. He can't do it. I like Elwes, but there's no denying that he's just awful here. Screenwriter Leigh Whannell is better, but not by much. Danny Glover has his moments.
This was the debut feature of James Wan, who is perhaps the first name in horror these days (I'd go with Neil Marshall or Scott Derrickson, personally). Here, he shows promise, but suffers from some common mistakes that a lot of fresh young directors have when they don't quite know how to channel their creative energy. There's a lot of style and atmosphere in this movie, but it does get a little self-indulgent at times. Fortunately, he learned that less is often more in the horror genre. Action movies, are a different story apparently, as anyone who has seen "Furious 7" can attest.
"Saw" has, not unreasonably, been considered the father of the "torture porn" genre of horror, and while it contains plenty of graphic violence and gore, it has less in common with movies like "The Collector" or "Martyrs" than one might think. This isn't a shock-o-rama bent on forcing the audience to vicariously experience extreme pain and suffering. Wan wants to scare his audience more than he wants to gross them out.
Originally, "Saw" was meant to go directly to DVD, but positive reception at test screenings convinced the studio to send it to theaters. It's not a perfect movie, but I'm glad they did, because it introduced the world to one of horror's most distinctive voices. That's a rare thing.
Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Tobin Bell
The version being reviewed is unrated. For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Strong Grisly Violence and Language
I don't know if they exist in other cities (my guess is they do), but there are businesses called "escape rooms." The idea is to get a group of your friends and get "locked" in a room. To get out, you all have to band together to solve a series of puzzles that lead to a key that unlocks the door. I've done it once, and it's a lot of fun if you have the right people. "Saw" reminded me of this, although as spooky as the Halloween-themed ones are, I strongly doubt they are as gruesome as this movie.
Adam (Whannell) wakes up mysteriously submerged in a bathtub in the dirtiest bathroom imaginable. He isn't alone; also in the room is Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Elwes). Both are chained to rusted pipes. Tapes they find on themselves reveal that in order to get out alive, they have to kill the other. Meanwhile, an obsessed detective named Tapp (Glover) is on the trail of the fiend who put them there. Known as the Jigsaw Killer, Gordon points out that Jigsaw never "literally" killed anyone. He just sets them up in deadly traps that will kill them if they don't figure a way out.
In all honesty, "Saw" isn't that great of a movie. There are definitely moments of high tension, particularly at the end, which is devilishly clever (if contrived). However, they're offset by flat moments, sloppy screenwriting, and awful acting. Another run through on the screenplay could only have helped things. Ditto for more rehearsals.
Cary Elwes is a fine character actor. He's one of those "that guy" people you see every now and then. The villain in "Twister," the other guy in "Liar Liar," Matthew Broderick's right hand man in "Glory." For anyone who's counting, he's also provided voice work in two Studio Ghibli movies. He doesn't get the lead role very often ("The Princess Bride" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" are two examples). He's a light comic actor, so casting him in an intense role is a painful mistake. He can't do it. I like Elwes, but there's no denying that he's just awful here. Screenwriter Leigh Whannell is better, but not by much. Danny Glover has his moments.
This was the debut feature of James Wan, who is perhaps the first name in horror these days (I'd go with Neil Marshall or Scott Derrickson, personally). Here, he shows promise, but suffers from some common mistakes that a lot of fresh young directors have when they don't quite know how to channel their creative energy. There's a lot of style and atmosphere in this movie, but it does get a little self-indulgent at times. Fortunately, he learned that less is often more in the horror genre. Action movies, are a different story apparently, as anyone who has seen "Furious 7" can attest.
"Saw" has, not unreasonably, been considered the father of the "torture porn" genre of horror, and while it contains plenty of graphic violence and gore, it has less in common with movies like "The Collector" or "Martyrs" than one might think. This isn't a shock-o-rama bent on forcing the audience to vicariously experience extreme pain and suffering. Wan wants to scare his audience more than he wants to gross them out.
Originally, "Saw" was meant to go directly to DVD, but positive reception at test screenings convinced the studio to send it to theaters. It's not a perfect movie, but I'm glad they did, because it introduced the world to one of horror's most distinctive voices. That's a rare thing.
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