Rating of
1.5/4
Review: "Saw V"
MovieGuy878 - wrote on 05/15/09
"Saw V" is pretty much shows this franchise is running on fumes. The first one was something of a horror gem that relied on suspense and story rather than most of the sequels that thrived on gory death scenes. A lot of people have lost faith in this franchise after "Saw 2", but i still stuck by it because i like twist filled movies and the character of Jigsaw. Sadly, i cant stand by the franchise anymore. "Saw IV" had some things to appricate but fell apart in the ending with a twist that i didnt like. This one picks up from that but offers nothing more than tying up some loose ends from from the past SAW films. We get some new questions but it never goes into them. What we get in result is a pointless sequel thats disguised as a set-up for the hopefully last installment in the franchise. A lot of the traps in the saw films have ranged from the clever to the just uninspired but most of the traps in this one are forgettable (except a trap thats a cool homage to a Edgar Allen Poe story).
The story is the typical Saw story with people trying to survive deadly traps but it tries to mix in a cat-and-mouse movie between the cop and the new jigsaw killer that doesnt work at all. I didnt get the purpose of the group of people being tested and that really weighed this movie down. The only interesting part of the story is the continous backstory of the Jigsaw character played with chilling intensity by Tobin Bell. Tobin Bell has never given a chance to show why hes perfectly casted in role. Same goes with his character's ex-wife, played by well by Betsy Russell. Other proformances are either forgettable or just wastes of decent actors.
David Hackl's directing is lazy and calls for the return the director of the first SAW. Finally, the trailers had tagline saying "You wont believe how it ends". This tagline is completely false and misleading as i saw the twist 3/4 the way through the movie and felt cheated when it eventually came. They even cheat me of that fantastic end score the SAW movies have had and barely use it. I will probably see "Saw VI" to see if how they finish out the story of Jigsaw, but i fell the franchise is all but done. Hopefully "Saw VI" will go back to what made the first film so memorable.
