Saw 4 poster
©Lionsgate Films
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: R
Stars: Tobin Bell, Lyriq Bent, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor, Athena Karkanis, Justin Louis
Writers: Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan, story by Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Distributor: Lionsgate
SAW IV
By: themovielordDate: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
SPOILERS
Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead on the autopsy table when the coroner finds tapes inside his stomach. A Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) arrives and immediately plays the tapes. The voice is Jigsaw’s saying, “My work will continue”.
Each and every Halloween for the last four years there has been a ‘Saw’ movie. These films are more than gore and more than torture. They are smart, cunning, and a scream of a good time. This year’s installment was at first confusing, however in the end when I put all the jigsaw pieces together I saw what a brilliant undertaking the makers of ‘Saw’ had accomplished.
Yes, it helps and is absolutely necessary to have seen all the other ‘Saw’ movies. Maybe not so much the original ‘Saw’, but the second and third are essential, oddly enough the first one is all set up. The second ‘Saw’ really lays down the foundation for a grander story that is being told. So after watching 2 and 3 again, you have all the faces of the side players in your head to move on to ‘Saw IV’ where they are all major players. This works in the story but is confusing as hell because without the actors being big names or even second tier players you barely remember them from the previous two films.
‘Saw IV’ immediately opens with the autopsy as I mentioned before. Yes, Jigsaw/ John is dead. Now put that to the back of your head and save it for ‘Saw V’. Saw IV takes place at the exact same time as ‘Saw III’. Yes, that is correct, this isn’t what happens next. This is what is going on and what other people are doing trying to prevent the next set of murders. Because you will see Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) and Amanda (Shawnee Smith) again and that will answer some questions but you will be stuck with some new questions as well. Which is what makes ‘Saw’ films fun once the gore is over. “What did that mean? And what do you think about…?” These become the all important questions for the initiated and daring that walk into and out of a ‘Saw’ film.
‘Saw IV’ is heavy with flash backs into Jigsaw/ John’s life. We witness the events that brought him to do what he does/ did. This calculating mind has a reason for everything. It is my wish and hope that the writers/ producers/ and directors also have the same mantra, especially with ‘Saw V’ already slated for next year. There is a larger story in the works and after watching four of these films I really hope it pays off. Now with Jigsaw dying he is recruiting someone new or has he already got someone besides Amanda helping him out? A question to be answered in ‘Saw V’, hopefully. This film has a tad less gore and shock than the first three (or maybe I’m just used to it now) but the story is what really matters and the writers and director have taken the story and perfectly interwoven it into ‘Saw III’. Most people will be confused by this, I was, but after dissecting the film and removing the beginning and the end it was clear to me that these events coincided with ‘Saw III’; a brilliant move in story telling and perfect to keep this franchise and story going into the fifth one.
It would have been an A+ but...
My only complaint was that I counted the boom microphone 10 times. I blatantly saw it in shots, hanging over actor’s heads, and next to their faces. Jason Hopfner is credited as the boom mic operator, so does the fault lie with him or the 1st AD Elizabeth Scherberger for not catching it? Maybe once in a big budget movie you might see a shadow or the tip of a mic hanging but 10 times (maybe 12, I was after all trying to watch the film)?
Click here to read the staff review by Mania.
