As many of you know, I usually wait for movies to either become available to rent or watch them for free thanks to HBO. The last time I went to the movie theater was to go and see The Big Sick (you can read my review here) and had a pretty bad time. After that experience, there are only a very few amount of movies that I would venture out to see when they’re released in the movie theater. Jigsaw is one of them because I am a huge fan of Saw. Huge fan. The franchise has had its ups and downs like any horror movie franchise, but I’ve stuck by it and this one I knew I had to see. I was so hyped up to see this movie, I knew that if it disappointed I would be crushed. Keep reading to see what I thought of Jigsaw.
Taking place 10 years after the death of John Krammer, AKA Jigsaw, played by Tobin Bell, the games have started yet again and there are another string of “Jigsaw” murders. How could this be though because Jigsaw is dead. Or is he? Anyway, 5 new people will be set up in a string of traps that gives them a chance to win, if they play the game correctly. Try to cheat and it could be the death of them or someone else. Playing Jigsaw’s game is one unknown person, unknown because he gets what’s coming to him in the first trap before you get to know the 4 survivors. Jigsaw wants them to confess, but what have they done? You have Carly, played by Brittany Allen, who is a purse snatcher. She’s had to do more than that though to end up in one of Jigsaw’s traps right? Then there’s Mitch, played by Mandela Van Peebles, who sold a faulty motorcycle to someone. What’s his real reason for being in this trap? Then there’s Ryan, played by Paul Braunstein, who is just an all around douche bag. He’s not only in Jigsaw’s trap because he’s a douce bag though. There has to be an underlying reason to why he’s there. Then you have Anna, played by Laura Vandervoort, who’s child died by accident. How did she end up in there? All will be answered by the end of the movie and you’ll see these people for what they really are and the things that they did. All while this game is going on, you’ll have a good cop bad cop routine going on between Detective Keith Hunt, played by Cle Bennett and Detective Halloran, played by Callum Keith Rennie, and now some medical examiners, Logan Nelson, played by Matt Passmore, and Eleanor Bonneville, played by Hannah Emily Anderson, trying to figure how and where this is taking place to try and save these people before it’s all over. Each of them will become paranoid in their own way and start to blame on another for being a copy cat killer. This will all lead to a twisted ending with lots of blood and gore that fans of the series can come to expect along with some new traps that have never been seen before.
That OMG moment. If you’ve seen the movie then you know what I’m talking about. There’s this total OMG moment in the movie where it all comes together and you’re mind is blown. This has happened in the good Saw movies and it happens in this movie as well. It’s pretty amazing and I keep these reviews spoiler free, but damn I did not see this one coming. It was a huge twist that was risky but totally paid off.
This movie was everything I could have ever wanted from a Saw movie. It was gory, it had its usual twisted plot, and had that shocker of an ending that I could have never seen coming. Out of all the Saw movies, this was definitely one of my favorites from the franchise. It took a new spin on something that has been dead for years and it paid off big time. It still had the same franchise staple points with the traps and the people that Jigsaw has deemed horrible people because of what they’ve done but it also added a new time bending twist which was pure genius. If I went into why this movie was so great even more, I would totally spoil the whole thing and I have no intention of doing that.
The cast has never been a big part of the franchise. The people in the traps have wronged other people or Jigsaw himself in some way and are just there to be a part of the game. You really aren’t supposed to become invested in them because there really isn’t a reason to route for them once you find out why they’re set up in these traps. Anyway, the Jigsaw prisoners all play their role of the victim well, but the real star of the show, only has a ten minute cameo, and it’s Tobin Bell. There can’t be a Saw movie without him because he’s the whole reason for the movie. As always he plays Jigsaw to perfection and seeing him in another movie was the highlight of this movie.
Overall I give this movie a 5 out of 5.
If you are a Saw fan and have stuck with the franchise through good movies and bad movies, then you have to see this movie because it will restore your faith in the franchise. It shows that these past Halloween’s have sorely been missing a decent, no great, Saw movie and you’ll be in for a treat with this one. If you’re not a Saw fan, then you’ll want to skip this movie because no matter what anyone says you’re either a Saw fan or you aren’t. If you’re on the fence and are a partial Saw fan, you have to go and see this movie. It’s seriously worth it and the payoff at the end is one of the best in the franchise.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 
Wow. That’s a great review. I also love the Saw series. 1, 2 and 6 were always my favourites with 3, 4 and 5 being pretty good too. 7 however. How could they destroy the amazing work they did there. The “we wanted 8 but had to settle for 7” style argument doesn’t work that I’ve heard going around but it sounds like this has gotten back on track. I might go see it this weekend.
Where would you rank it against the others? I’d go 1, 6, 2, 4, 3, 5 then 7.
Thanks for reading, it was a great movie so it was easy to give it a good review. I thought that 7 was the worst out of all of them. I really hated the whole premise of the movie especially the way the handled Jill. I will say that the ending to 7 was a decent one though and thinking that they were going to end it like that would have been fine, but this movie takes it to a whole other level.
Where I would rank it with the others? That’s such a hard question to answer, I’ve seriously been thinking about it all day. I would have to say 1, JIGSAW, 3, 6, 2, 5, 4, and 7.
Agreed. What were they thinking changing Jill and Hoffman like that. And Lawrence would never turn to the dark side like that. And giving John only a few minutes of screen time was terrible. It should have ended with 6.
I agree with you there. With the way it ended in 6 they made Jill out to be a total badass who then spent the entire 7th movie running around and screaming. They did a complete 180 with her character and it didn’t pay off. Why they changed it to Hoffman, who was a completely unlikable character, is beyond me. He didn’t share the same vision as John and basically rigged the traps so that the people in them would always fail.
I don’t know about Lawrence though. I don’t think he necessarily turned to the dark side, but maybe he understood why John was doing what he was doing and after being able to escape wanted to continue with his legacy.
That’s not completely true. He did to Seth but he had his reasons. The opening from 6 which was truly his own game, one person did live but yeah he was nowhere near as brilliant and into the message as John was but I thought he was a good character. At least until 7 turned him into a horror villain like Jason V.
See with Lawrence joining the team, I just can’t see him embracing that message even if he did learn his lesson. But if it weren’t for Detective Tapp, his family would have been murdered. People like Amanda didn’t almost lose people that mattered to them. Lawrence nearly did and I just can’t see him joining John. Hoffman and Amanda were enough.
I just never liked Hoffman because I felt like he never really believed in John’s message. Don’t forget about what he did to Detective Kerry in III. That trap was also rigged so that she was never going to get out of it even though she totally did what she was supposed to. I guess that’s what made me dislike his character so much. Detective Kerry was one of my favorite Saw characters and she beat the angel trap, but Hoffman rigged it so that she wouldn’t get out. I do agree that 7 went over the top and tried to make him into a super villain.
I never really did believe that Amanda played that much of a role in the whole scheme of things. I felt like after her trap she was way too dependent on John, who she knew was going to eventually die, and without him she wouldn’t be able to carry on with his message. The fact that she had nothing to lose only made that point stronger for me. The fact that Lawrence did have something to lose and almost lost what was most important in his life made me think that he would help John carry out his message.
Maybe but there was such a strong chance of Lawrence’s family being murdered I can’t see him embracing John’s message whereas Amanda only risked losing her life.
But I have no idea why it was changed from Amanda making traps inescapable after what we saw in 3 to then Hoffman rigged Det Kerry’s trap with the bullet casing.
Well at least Jigsaw is a fresh start for the franchise. Reckon there will be a sequel?
I agree that Jigsaw is a fresh start. There were a lot of questions unanswered, so I hope that there is a sequel. If not, I’ll be happy knowing that this was the last Saw and not Saw 7.