SPOILERS FOR A RECENTLY RELEASED MOVIE
Saw X is the–as of time of writing–latest chapter of the sprawling Saw franchise, finally reaching double digits and joining the ranks of other horror behemoths like Halloween, Hellraiser, Children of the Corn, and Friday the 13th. And like most of those franchises, the sequels are not the best. You’re typically not saving your best ideas for the tenth entry of the franchise, right? …right? Let’s wrap up Saw-mhain and answer that question.
You know what we haven’t actually done in the previous nine movies? Have the protagonist be Jigsaw! Sure, he’s been there either has an antagonist or a (metaphorical) ghost lurking over everything, but Saw X flips the script and focuses on John Kramer above all others. Set somewhere after Saw and before Saw III, Kramer travels to Mexico for an experimental cancer treatment that boasts a 90% success rate, even with terminal cases like his own. Sounds great! Too bad the whole thing is a scam and they never even performed surgery. For most people that’d be the end of things–and their lives–but John’s got friends who are willing to help him get revenge. Oh hai, Amanda and the implied presence of Hoffman on the other end of the phone! Good lord, Ms. Shawnee Smith, I know your character at this point in the franchise was supposed to have short hair, but that wig is atrocious…
So we’ve got the lead doctor Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund), “anesthesiologist” Mateo (Octavio Hinojosa), “lab tech” Valentina (Paulette Hernandez), and Gabriela (Renata Vaca) who is hooked on oxy and just kind of roped in. Amanda feels bad for her, but no sympathy for the wicked with these assholes. While Valentina and Mateo get frustratingly close to surviving before their death traps close around them, Gabriela manages to survive, albeit she’s hurt real bad. Hell, she might’ve even survived if it wasn’t for the first twist–another patient/victim seeking revenge, Parker (Steven Brand) is actually Pederson’s boyfriend and has come to rescue her. Cecilia escapes her trap, kills Gabriela, and forces Kramer to enter the trap he had planned for her with an innocent child named Carlos that John had befriended earlier. But wait, why was Pederson’s trap for two people? Because Jigsaw knew Parker was in on it and had a different trap set up for the deadly duo! Second twist! Pederson survives by sacrificing Parker, Kramer and Amanda escape after having saved Carlos, and a mid-credits scene confirms that Hoffman is around. Not that big a twist, but sure, why not.
Writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg are back, as is director Kevin Greutert. Sure, he previously directed Saw VI and Saw 3D–you know, the really bad ones–but what’s on display here is more the fact that he’s worked a lot with Darren Lynn Bousman and the Saw franchise as an editor. Several moments are mimicking Bousman’s shakey dramatic sequences, which I suppose should now be considered franchise trademarks. Honestly, good on Greutert for redeeming himself from Saw 3D, cause I thought this one was pretty good.
Jigsaw is still a sociopath with a god complex, but he’s also a very principled man. Previously we knew about his whole “I don’t actually kill anyone” and “if you survive, you get to live” philosophies, but having him be the main character instead of the antagonist allowed him to show his personality and non-death trap talents. He figures out the location of the secret hospital by using landmarks and math, showing off his architectural and civil engineering degrees. He’s willing to sacrifice himself to save Carlos, an innocent bystander, which is only undercut a bit by the fact that he knew the trap he was in was going to turn off as soon as Pederson stumbled into her secret, final trap. I can’t say that I like the man any more, but I do appreciate showing some of the humanity of this serial killer. Too bad they killed him off in Saw III, right?
And so, Saw-mhain has come to an end. Shame that Saw X didn’t fall on Halloween itself. Oh well, it’s not like I have a history of reviewing a special movie on that day or anything…
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