Saw VI

The Jigsaw puppet with red, concentric circles on its cheek has struck again. Just around the time for Halloween, it tried to sweep off the audience. Has it succeeded? Or have we seen the doll too many times to expect something new?

I'd go for the latter. Six times was utterly - too many times. Expanding the same plot to the extent of experiencing déjà vu is too much. And the Saw makers don't seem to stop. Like every previous part, they've left this one - open for a sequel. Meaning, more of the puppet, more of the same game; only new players.

The first part, having two strangers opening the motion picture, waking up in some old bathroom, chained to pipes, seemed like a perfect way to draw audience in. And the first part did it, definitely and completely. Adding the doll was another smooth move; it led us to think that the killer likes playing games. Creative death traps only added to the sick mind of the killer, once again letting us know how much he enjoys doing that. A couple of parts that followed were bearable, watchable. But that suspense, mystery revolving around the plot was gone. There was nothing more to expect.

The fifth sequel was a downright disappointment. Followed by the sixth. There was nothing new to see, the killer was known from the previous part. He just kept on playing the game. The same old, déjà vu game that was interesting 5-6 years ago, in the first, original Saw.

Once again, the movie opens with two people, having to show how much blood they're willing to shed to stay alive. They have 60 seconds to cut off more flesh weight; the winner stays alive and wins the sick game, and the loser gets their skull drilled by screws. Agent Peter Strahm, killed in the fifth part is the main suspect for new murders, thanks to Lieutenant Mark Hoffman, who placed Strahm's fingerprints at the crime scene. The first murder in this sequel was just warming up, showing that the death traps are still creative and as deadly as ever. But that's the only creative thing. If we can call something so gross and terrifying; creative.

The plot itself wasn't creative but far fetched; holding onto minor things. The logic in the movie is not on some deep level; it resembles some already seen police show. The plot, the main game revolves around William Easton, an executive at a health insurance company. He's captured and has to pass a few tests to win the game. Since his company "decides whom to cover based strictly on probabilities of health or illness", he's put in the role of a life taker/giver. In order to pass each test, he has to decide which captured person lives. And which dies.

The question's being raised; if you see something one, two, three, four, five and now six times, what can you expect? Can you expect to be blown away? I hardly think so, knowing that the Saw franchise uses the same game over and over again. You don't even flinch anymore. You got used to the gore scenes in the Saw series that it just leaves you indifferent. No jaw dropping, no staring. You just follow the game, without a spark of emotions.

The ending in the first part can hardly be compared to any in the sequels. This time, there was a twist, of course but it was poor and predictable. After the first part, I really thought that the movie industry was richer, hardly lacking good thriller/horror movies. But with each sequel that followed, my enthusiasm was going down. Until it hit rock bottom.