Jigsaw
Year: 2017
Directed by: The Spierig Brothers
Starring: Cle Bennett, Eleanor Bonneville, Callum Keith Rennie & Matt Passmore
Runtime: 92 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 25/11/21
Directed by: The Spierig Brothers
Starring: Cle Bennett, Eleanor Bonneville, Callum Keith Rennie & Matt Passmore
Runtime: 92 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 25/11/21
After the monumental disaster that was Saw VII (or Saw 3D, or Saw: The Final Chapter depending on who you ask), the series was put on indefinite hiatus. The seventh film acted as a conclusion to the storyline that had been persistent since James Wan & Leigh Whannell’s original outing, but left the story open enough so that if Lionsgate wanted to return to the series in the future, they could do so without totally retconning the events of the Saw VII (unfortunately).
There were always rumblings that Lionsgate were working on an eighth instalment to the series, or some kind of spin-off, but it took seven years for anything to materialise; and what audiences got was part sequel, part spin-off, and a great return to form for the series.
Despite being dead for ten years, rumours of a new Jigsaw game begin making the rounds when a police informant is hospitalised for following orders left for him on a tape recorder. It’s only once the bodies start showing up in public places that Detective Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Detective Hunt (Cle Bennett) jump into action. With the help of morticians Logan (Matt Passmore) and Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson), the detectives begin to close in on the new game but begin to wonder whether John Kramer has truly risen from the dead.
Meanwhile in an isolated barn, Jigsaw’s game has begun for five unsuspecting victims. Together they must confess their sins and face deadly challenges to escape with their lives.
There were always rumblings that Lionsgate were working on an eighth instalment to the series, or some kind of spin-off, but it took seven years for anything to materialise; and what audiences got was part sequel, part spin-off, and a great return to form for the series.
Despite being dead for ten years, rumours of a new Jigsaw game begin making the rounds when a police informant is hospitalised for following orders left for him on a tape recorder. It’s only once the bodies start showing up in public places that Detective Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Detective Hunt (Cle Bennett) jump into action. With the help of morticians Logan (Matt Passmore) and Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson), the detectives begin to close in on the new game but begin to wonder whether John Kramer has truly risen from the dead.
Meanwhile in an isolated barn, Jigsaw’s game has begun for five unsuspecting victims. Together they must confess their sins and face deadly challenges to escape with their lives.
In terms of structure, Jigsaw follows the formula established by the sequel films, particularly Saw V. It’s a tale of police corruption, cat and mouse games between the suspects, and most obviously a game designed for five subjects. But where it manages to score one up from Saw V is by ditching the series long running and convoluted plot for one that’s considerably more isolated and focused than any other in the series besides the 2004 original.
Jigsaw routinely keeps you on your toes by throwing small twists in wherever it can and building to a series staple grand twist at the end. Whilst this twist is certainly less exciting than many other Saw endings, it does help ties the film into the mainline entries without ever asking the viewer to remember anything other than who John Kramer is.
In this way, Jigsaw is able to stand alone from the mainline entries as a spin-off, that sets up its own sequels to work independently of the main films. But never strays so far away from the formula of the source material that it feels like something totally alien.
The characters are given considerably more depth this time round too; and whilst they are still your typical horror film cannon fodder, for the most part the film at least tries to give each major character enough time to develop a backstory and some sort of growth. The film is a little on the short side for what it’s trying to do though, coming in at just over an hour and a half means that a whole lot needs to be crammed into a short time frame. If the film could have been five to ten minutes longer then I feel like the characters could have had better development, and some of the finer plot details could have been given more room to breathe in what is admittedly a crowded film.
But how does Jigsaw fare on the gore front? I mean if it’s going to pick up where Saw left off then it needs some great traps and gore for returning fans. This is where Jigsaw rests on its laurels slightly and relies more on the thrill that it’s a new Saw film after such a long time without one, rather than actually providing audiences with what they expect from a Saw film. It certainly has gory moments with decapitations, loss of limbs, and a good amount of blood spilled. But none of the traps are truly memorable, and they never go for gross out gore, or even look particularly painful. This could be because the film utilises CGI rather than practical effects like the original films did, but either way, watching someone lose their leg in Jigsaw doesn’t land with the same kind of impact as losing a limb did in the old films.
Jigsaw routinely keeps you on your toes by throwing small twists in wherever it can and building to a series staple grand twist at the end. Whilst this twist is certainly less exciting than many other Saw endings, it does help ties the film into the mainline entries without ever asking the viewer to remember anything other than who John Kramer is.
In this way, Jigsaw is able to stand alone from the mainline entries as a spin-off, that sets up its own sequels to work independently of the main films. But never strays so far away from the formula of the source material that it feels like something totally alien.
The characters are given considerably more depth this time round too; and whilst they are still your typical horror film cannon fodder, for the most part the film at least tries to give each major character enough time to develop a backstory and some sort of growth. The film is a little on the short side for what it’s trying to do though, coming in at just over an hour and a half means that a whole lot needs to be crammed into a short time frame. If the film could have been five to ten minutes longer then I feel like the characters could have had better development, and some of the finer plot details could have been given more room to breathe in what is admittedly a crowded film.
But how does Jigsaw fare on the gore front? I mean if it’s going to pick up where Saw left off then it needs some great traps and gore for returning fans. This is where Jigsaw rests on its laurels slightly and relies more on the thrill that it’s a new Saw film after such a long time without one, rather than actually providing audiences with what they expect from a Saw film. It certainly has gory moments with decapitations, loss of limbs, and a good amount of blood spilled. But none of the traps are truly memorable, and they never go for gross out gore, or even look particularly painful. This could be because the film utilises CGI rather than practical effects like the original films did, but either way, watching someone lose their leg in Jigsaw doesn’t land with the same kind of impact as losing a limb did in the old films.
The visuals have certainly been brought into the present day as well thanks to the film grain filter used in all of the previous films being ditched for a look that is much cleaner, and more colourful. It doesn’t pull a Saw VII of artificially whacking the brightness up and making everything look weird, but it does tend to be better lit throughout, allowing for a generally more enjoyable viewing experience.
Combine this with the almost total lack of frantic speed up effects, and much more focused cinematography and editing than in the previous films and Jigsaw is by far the most viewer friendly Saw film ever made.
All in all Jigsaw is a welcome return to the seemingly dead franchise. It’s success has ultimately led to the recent release of the Chris Rock led Saw spin-off Spiral, and Lionsgate have not ruled out returning for a sequel to Jigsaw or even a direct sequel to Saw VII. Could the 2020’s see a return for the Saw franchise? Personally, if they match the quality of Jigsaw, I would be very happy to see that.
Combine this with the almost total lack of frantic speed up effects, and much more focused cinematography and editing than in the previous films and Jigsaw is by far the most viewer friendly Saw film ever made.
All in all Jigsaw is a welcome return to the seemingly dead franchise. It’s success has ultimately led to the recent release of the Chris Rock led Saw spin-off Spiral, and Lionsgate have not ruled out returning for a sequel to Jigsaw or even a direct sequel to Saw VII. Could the 2020’s see a return for the Saw franchise? Personally, if they match the quality of Jigsaw, I would be very happy to see that.