Well, I Finally Saw SAW III...

Well I actually accomplished my goal of seeing all three of the original Saw films before the release of Saw IV today. Some general observations I have made are clearly the escalation of violence in each film, the more intricate roles of each character that appear, and the more messed up the connections between the films become. This film does not stand alone though which does definitely subtract its value from the other two.

I'm warning you right away, this movie is a whole cliffhanger from end to start. I know most people genuinely dislike cliffhangers such as the endings of Lord of the Rings trilogy or Pirates of the Caribbean. Although the cliffhanger is a very cheap way to gain interest in the next film, I do love the cliffhanger here and how you can make great assumption, predictions, and expectations of what the plot and story will bring in the next sequel. Unfortunately, having no direct conclusion is what definitely separates this film from the first too. Yes the same basic plot and storyline are there. The same characters appear as in the first two and reveal more shocking pieces to this huge "puzzle" within the films. Yet, why do we watch movies without endings? This probably didn't aggravate me like most moviegoers at the time because I do have the opportunity and privilege to see the ending of Saw III. I could go right this minute as a matter of fact to catch a viewing of Saw IV, but that is the whole problem. Why do conclusions of one piece of film lay within its sequel? I guess this just upsets me because Saw and Saw II can clearly be viewed alone and leaves you feeling complete.

Without giving away to much plot, I hope I can discuss some of the positive and negatives. Amanda carries on John's(Jigsaw) work and captures a doctor named Lynn, who's "game" is to keep John alive or she will die with him. Meanwhile a man named Jeff is sent wandering through a maze with the chance to gain vengeance on the indirect killers of his son. The struggles of the four all intertwine in a supposedly shocking way, but it's relatively predictable what is occurring up to the last scene. The plot of this film without the connections to the first two(and presumably the fourth with sequels to come) is pretty weak. Yet the writers managed to do a relatively good job piecing their own puzzle together by turning seamlessly useless events from the first films, into the heart of this movie.

Some other topic we should discuss here is the gore. It is rare a graphic scene makes me, a victim of desensitization due to modern film, flinch at all. Congratulations Saw III, you found one of my three weaknesses, brain surgery... The sound effects in this scene are rather unnecessary, and in general, I believe the whole scene is unnecessary after viewing the end result of the film. I dare you to sit with your eyes and ears glued to the screen and not squirm an inch. I tried, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who failed and can only imagine what a theatre full of average people looked like. If that scene stood for more than shock value I would be praising it, but I feel that degraded from the other torture scenes shown throughout the series. Another topic is the characters, they did a better job with giving more screen time to each of them; however, once again I feel no sympathy for them when they die. Oh, and Jeff wins award for most annoying character in series thus far.

My overall impression of this trilogy is highly positive. I would recommend this film to anyone who has seen the first two films. Do not however watch this film first, you'll not only ruin the first two films, but you'll probably despise the series as a whole. Although fans and critics always disagree, I enjoyed all three of these films and am now completely entranced with the Saw universe. It was a lot of fun watching these and I'll hopefully run down to the theatre in the next few days and catch the fourth installment.