WARNING: This movie is not for the faint of heart, containing scenes of intense gore and gross imagery.
Seven years since the last entry in the “Saw” franchise, “Jigsaw” continues the sadistic games of the infamous Jigsaw killer who mysteriously returns after a 10 year absence with new traps, new victims and lots of blood to be shed. Over the years, “Saw” grew increasingly popular to the point where it eventually became a staple of Halloween, and for a while there wasn’t a Halloween without a “Saw” movie. So when “Jigsaw” was announced for 2017, fans got excited.
Since its humble beginnings, “Saw” has slowly begun to devolve from a psychological horror to a gore filled mess, focusing only on the traps and less on the story. However, in order to fully understand the plot, it is highly recommended that viewers watch the previous seven films in the series.
This film decides to take a different approach, focusing on the investigation and finding out who this new killer is, leaving the victims to play the game in a sideline story. Eventually both stories tie together towards the film’s end, but while the investigation was interesting, watching Jigsaw’s game being played was far more entertaining.
In terms of character development, the film does a decent job of revealing the back stories of each character by having each trap involve or represent a mistake that they made in the past that they now have to atone for, but in the end one will not remember who the characters are, just the traps that they were in.
Speaking of traps, they’re back and better than ever, introducing new and creative kills that are sure to make any viewer’s stomach turn. As a sequel, “Jigsaw” acts as a decent reintroduction to the “Saw” legacy, offering an entertaining experience although the plot does seem a little confusing at times and potentially setting the ground for more sequels to come. If it’s Halloween, it must be Saw, and Saw is back baby.
7/10
Joey Menendez// Editor-in-Chief
