After hauling in a staggering US$730 million dollars (SGD$950 million) from the previous six entries in the Saw movie series, Lionsgate brings us to the end of an era with the seventh and last film in the franchise, Saw 3D.

One of the films that kicked off the recent resurgence in “torture porn” films (like The Collector, Hostel etc), the Guinness World Record winner for the “Most Successful Horror Movie Series” surprises fans with creatively new additions in Saw 3D and the franchise on a whole.

Before moving on, a little background on the Saw series.

The main storyline of Saw involves a homicidal man (nicknamed Jigsaw by the media) who abducts wrongdoers like murderers, and puts them in traps that they must escape from, or die a gruesome death. Jigsaw plans to instantly rehabilitate criminals with his traps, which is usually ironic in nature, depending on the crime the person has committed.

For example, in one of Jigsaw’s traps, a thief must saw off his hand, while in another, a racist must tear his own skin off to “realise they are all the same colour inside”.

Saw 3D raises the bar by having 11 traps, the most in the series, as well as various other new aspects.

For starters, Saw 3D introduces a whole new element by having one of Jigsaw’s traps outdoors, where bystanders get to watch and react to the trap. This move is a refreshing and creative change from the usual traps being filmed a dirty dingy old building, although its relation to the plot is non-existent, with us being whisked away to the main story immediately afterwards.

The movie focuses on Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery), who wrote a book on the experience of being a Jigsaw survivor, gaining fame and fortune, although in actual fact, he had never been in a trap before. Bobby Dagen and his wife, along with his publicity team soon find themselves the target of Jigsaw’s next trap. The story of Bobby’s wrongdoings start to unravel as he races against time to save his friends and wife.

The movie also brings back Doctor Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), from the first Saw movie for a brief cameo which will likely shock anticipating fans who were speculating if he had died or gone into seclusion. Saw 3D brings to light many of the unanswered questions fans have been asking from the previous six films. The plot is quite predictable up to the point where Doctor Gordon’s role in Saw is revealed which was a rather huge surprise.

Disappointingly, the main star of the movie, Jigsaw’s traps, are all terribly generic. A trap that merely crushes a person’s throat for preaching lies isn’t original at all. It’s a huge step down from the imaginative traps in the past like the reverse bear trap (attached to the mouth and instead of snapping shut, it snaps open) or ribcage harness (which tears the ribcage out), from Saw and Saw III respectively. It’s a lesson to filmmakers that quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality.

Saw 3D, as its title suggests, is filmed in real 3D, rather than being converted to 3D in post-production. The tagline “the traps come alive” is very much appropriate here as viewers get a more vivid view of the traps cutting into its victims. The traps and gory scenes really got viewers squirming in their seats in the theatre.

If you’re a huge fan, Saw 3D is a must watch, if not to get closure for the series, then purely for watching more of Jigsaw’s traps do their thing. Even if you’re not a gore aficionado, Saw 3D will definitely get your hair standing with its twisted plot and perverse traps.

https://youtu.be/-l1oCG6IVXE

Movie: SAW 3D
Rating: ★★★✩✩

Opens: 6 Jan 2011
Duration: 90 minutes
Language: English
Age Rating: R21
Genre: Action, Thriller, Gore

Director: Kevin Greutert
Cast: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flanery