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Year: 2017
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
A string of murders leaves a trail of evidence that leads police into thinking Jigsaw is somehow back despite being dead for a decade.
Seven years ago, audiences witnessed what they believed was the final mercy killing of the "Saw" franchise with "Saw 3D: The Final Chapter." As horror fans know and have learned from the past based on films like "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" and this year's "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," the "Final Chapter" is hardly ever the actual "Final Chapter."
So here we are again with another "Saw" movie no one asked for. "Jigsaw," as this eight installment in the franchise has been named, is directed by The Spierig brothers, who are known for directing movies like "Daybreakers," "Undead," and "Predestination." When it appears another game has started up once again and bodies begin popping up around the city, all evidence points to Jigsaw miraculously returning from the grave. Leading detectives Halloran and Hunt, played by Callum Keith Rennie and Clé Bennett, know this is not possible, so they must attempt to uncover who is really behind this latest series of "Jigsaw"-style murders.
We were big fans of the original "Saw" film. We enjoyed the psychological and mystery aspects of the story. We even liked a few of the sequels in the franchise. The more movies that came out, however, the more the franchise devolved into a torture porn gore-fest with the sole purpose of creating wacky murder machines. We definitely didn't have high hopes for this long-oft sequel, but we hoped it might return to its psychological roots and create an interesting story to revive the franchise. Unfortunately, this is not the case. What we have here is a weak mystery and a bunch of gore-fest kill machines that aren't even that creative. "Contrived" is the best word to describe the narrative of "Jigsaw." So much that happens with the death traps, with the investigation, and with the big twist ending reveal simply occurs out of matters of convenience. We know what the filmmakers are trying to do early on with the way the picture is edited, and though we were right in guessing the way the story ended, we still feel cheated by it all because it is just so dreadfully stupid. To add insult to injury, the acting is bad, the story is bad, the dialogue is bad, the movie itself is just plain bad. The only good thing this movie has going for it is the blood and gore elements, which may make fans of the later "Saw" films happy and make the film worth it for them. We're just tired of seeing the same old thing over and over, and it is painfully obvious the only reason this franchise was resurrected was in an effort to make tons of money. Avoid this one if you have seen and didn't like any of the other installments in this franchise because "Jigsaw" is more of the same.
**Did you know we have a podcast? Check out the episode where we discuss "Jigsaw" right here! Our review starts at 2:45!
My Rating: 2/10
BigJ's Rating: 3/10
IMDB's Rating: ~6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~31%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
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