Many film series die off without ever having closure. Series like Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc all seem to never get the proper closure they deserve. They always get the boot for the remake instead. The Saw series has been living in the tracks of Friday the 13th, in the fact that they release a new installment to the series every year. The good thing is that Saw didn’t fall into the trap of the Friday films and it actually has a final film (for now) to wrap up the series.
The plot picks up right after Saw 6, and i felt that the pacing of the film was very very uneven. Things were happening WAY too fast in some spots and then it was too slow in others. The introduction of the Bobby Dagen angle was an interesting concept but i felt that there were plotholes that made this hard to believe. The traps were so-so, at this point in the series it’s hard to come up with great, new traps that live up to some in the other films. The character development of Hoffman in this film was great. The fact that he pretty much sticks the middle finger up to the police department and totally wipes them out is pretty badass.
And now we get to the ending. Upon my intital viewing of film, i thought the ending was so-so and i wanted like 30 sec more to tie things up. Then last night i watched the ending again on youtube and I let it set and i thought. I love the ending now, and people are saying that there are unanswered questions. Dr. Gordon was one of the few people who actually benefited from his trap with Jigsaw and he has a new meaning on life. People viewed him as more of an antagonist in this film. I don’t think so, he’s appeared negative in Dagens support group meeting because he knew he was a fake, a liar, a fraud. Gordon is the heir of Jigsaw’s legacy. It was shown quite clearly that Gordon was back at the hospital, back to work as always. John probably asked Gordon to take care of all of the surgicial aspects of the traps that needed to be done. As a favor, since John gave Gordon a new perspective on life. Gordon carried out John’s final request, that being to watch over Jill, and if anything should happen to her (if she gets shanked by Hoffman) for him to act accordingly (Kill Hoffmans Ass!).
Now another thing fans are disappointed with is, what exactly IS Jigsaw’s “Final,” “Grand,” “Epic” plan? It wasn’t straight up said but if you think, you easily can figure it out. His goal was for people to start realizing that they are taking their life for granted and to appreciate it more. As shown in the television interview where the survivor says she is glad it happened. THATS what Kramer wanted, Gordon was the only helper of Jigsaw that actually succeeded in what he wanted all his subjects to do. Amanda, Jigsaw knew her temper would get the better of her, and Hoffman would get a growing ego, Gordon was the only one who could offer the closure to his reign. Jigsaw told Jill he would leave her a way out. I guess he meant if you die, i will avenge you. Very all closure overall.
The acting was subpar. I could tell the top caliber actors of the series had come and gone but they seemed to fill the roles well enough. There was also more comic relief in this film which something new to the series and i feel that in the light that this is the last one, they could do that and have be hacked to death by reviewers. I feel this is a proper ending to intelligent man’s horror series.
3.5/5 Stars
