Saw X review

SAW X: 

TENTH SAW FILM IS ONE OF THE LONG-RUNNING HORROR FRANCHISE’S BEST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE

The game continues in Saw X

 

            John Kramer/The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell-Mississippi Burning, The Firm, Unabomber: A True Story) returns for some unfinished business in Saw X, the tenth installment of the long-running Saw franchise dating all the way back to 2004. I’m sure I already went into this in my Spiral review from a couple years ago, but I never really got into the Saw series that much, liked the first one and seen the second and third films, saw the seventh movie in theaters during the big 3D boom that was going on at the time, I actually enjoyed 2017’s Jigsaw quite a bit, and Spiral despite being incredibly flawed was anchored by Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson’s performances. 

            The rest I’ve either only seen clips of or haven’t seen at all mostly because of how repetitive they are. There is a lot of imagination behind the traps, but at the end of the day you’re mostly just watching people maim themselves in hope of survival or face death. 

            For me, the best Saw films are the ones that have more of a story and decent-enough characters to balance out the excessive gore. Needless to say, I didn’t know what to expect when going into Saw X and coming out of it, this might be the best Saw movie or at least the best since the first. 

            The film is set between the events of Saw and Saw II and follows John Kramer AKA The Jigsaw Killer (Bell) traveling to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer. But when he realizes the entire thing was a scam set up by con artists, he takes matters into his own hands and makes the people who wronged him pay…in blood through another gruesome series of traps with the aid of his assistant Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith-The Blob (1988), The X-Files, Becker reprising her role from Saw 1-3 and Saw VI). 

            The film also stars Synnøve Macody Lund (Headhunters, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Ragnarok) as Cecilia Pederson, Steven Brand (The Scorpion King, Hellraiser: Revelations, Teen Wolf) as Parker Sears, Joshua Okamoto (Narcos: Mexico, Control Z) as Diego, Paulette Hernández (Destino, Perdida) as Valentina, Costas Mandylor (Picket Fences, The Pledge, Beowulf) reprising his role as Mark Hoffman, and Michael Beach (True Romance, Insidious: Chapter 2, Shelby Oaks) as Henry Kessler. 

            Overall, Saw X blends its grotesque violence and crazy death traps with a gripping story and a surprising amount of heart, resulting in one of the franchise’s best entries. What I especially like about this movie is that it takes its time to establish the characters and situation which makes the scam reveal more effective and the deaths all the more satisfying instead of just kidnapping random d-bags and locking them in the traps. 

            Aside from a premonition trap sequence, the beginning has practically no Saw violence and plays like a heartbreaking drama about cancer and coming to terms with it. Not once was I sitting there waiting for the traps to arrive as I was genuinely invested in John Kramer’s journey for a cure in the beginning and you actually do feel sympathy towards him in the entire film (Something I never thought I’d say given the fact this is The Jigsaw Killer). 

            It honestly reminded me of what Don’t Breathe 2 tried to do with Stephen Lang’s character where they make this monster into practically the hero of the film. But unlike that movie where the Blind Man’s turn felt underdeveloped and out of the blue, Saw X doesn’t forget the horrible things Kramer and Amanda have done and makes them the protagonists in a way that still fits with their characters. 

            The film also shows John Kramer at his most vulnerable and human where even he has his limits on who should be players in his games while also expressing his beliefs that everyone deserves a chance at redemption. So, even though he’s doing these horrible things to people he doesn’t really take pleasure or joy in commencing his traps despite it being a group of people who scammed him. 

            A lot of why this film works is attributed to Tobin Bell’s performance as John Kramer, I haven’t seen all the Sawmovies nor have I seen much Tobin Bell, but from what I’ve seen this is him at his absolute best. Since this is a more personal Jigsaw compared to other films, it allows Bell to express other sides of The Jigsaw Killer not explored (or at least not explored as much) in its predecessors and you legitimately feel for him in this movie. 

            I was also surprised that how invested I was in Shawnee Smith’s performance as Amanda Young who at first is just there to help Kramer with his traps, but even she goes through an arc as the film progresses. On top of having enjoyable chemistry with Tobin Bell, she has plenty of moments to shine in the film and become a thoroughly fascinating character. 

            The fact that I’m waiting until now to talk about the traps shows how good this movie really is, the Saw traps are blood-drenched fun though at times illogical, but you’re able to look past their holes. From a man being forced to slice through his own arms to remove wires holding explosives to them to getting incinerated by a radiation machine, it delivers the Saw goods. 

            I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Saw X, the tenth installment of a series that felt like it was running out of steam. But through a well-crafted story and compelling characters, it managed to exceed my expectations in just about every way, well played, Jigsaw.