Saw X review: Jigsaw returns, but without new tricks

What movie from the saga Saw the cruelty is not surprising. In fact, the franchise, which began in 2014 with James Wan, This is what makes him different. Become a classic of body horror and the most outright bloody, varied revenge John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) was a major milestone. Moreover, in addition to the moral message, the director used torture, decapitation and dismemberment. In fact, this was the most surprising element at the premiere of the first film and which returns in a certain way in its last part.

Saw X Kevin Greutert, takes a direction that makes it a spiritual continuation of the original film. At best, an exploration of the decisions made by the character. Kramer after his first act of violence. One day he left the torture room, where Doctor Gordon (Cary Elwes). The script by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger ponders more than just the convict’s next steps. Another thing is that any restrictions disappeared from his life.

So, the story returns to its mythology with the intention of avoiding the mistakes of the previous films. In particular, ignore trivial revelations Saw 3D (which was originally the ending of the saga) has not yet been rebooted Spiral: The Fear Game Continues. The new feature film decides to take the safe route and dwell on a moment that has always been of interest. So the main killer, the source of all the violence in the film, once again takes his place in the script..

The plot tells the story of Kramer’s last attempt to stay alive amid the ravages of cancer. A few weeks after the murder was committed Adam Faulkner-Stanheit (Leigh Whannell) and Lawrence Gordon, Kramer He knows he will die. Confidence pushes a killer into the darkest corners of his mind. He enjoys killing, but death is not an option for him. There is something tragic about the selfish exploration of despair that drives him to Mexico in search of a miracle cure. Kramer, transformed in the new film into a man with nothing to lose, traverses the inhospitable terrain without fear of what awaits him..

The problem of the passage of time in Saw X

The film takes place in the interim period between the first and second film, so Kramer He is dying, but he is not an old man. However, the film has real problems with trying to reconcile the ravages of the disease he suffers from and hiding his age. He doesn’t always succeed, and it feels like the character is more fragile than one might expect..

But the director plays his cards well and turns his actor’s bony appearance into a way to show that he is willing to sacrifice almost anything to live. With long close-ups and pauses that focus on the details of his clumsiness and fatigue, the message is clear. Kramer needs a miracle he wants to find.

Actually, Saw X This is due to his desire to live. The script clumsily conveys the depth of such strong feelings, but at least makes it clear that there is no room for doubt. This avoids the question of how a man capable of creating elaborate murder plots certainly believes in a medical miracle beyond hospitals and cutting-edge medicine. History presents this as an illusion. So strong and so firm that when she is deceived, Kramer’s hatred will be the sole driving force in everything she does from that moment on..

More cruel, brutal and thoughtful, but no better

If anything distinguished the saga Saw the fourth and even the fifth part is that the killer had a goal, cruel and barbaric, which the public could understand. Much more important than the methods of killing, the reason why he killed was more important. This premise is coming back Saw X, but with much less power than expected. The motive for revenge is obvious – a trap involving the health of those able to defend themselves – but it loses depth in favor of sending Kramer immediately for perverting justice.

If earlier his instruments of torture were a sinister mockery of the sins of the damned, here they are a demonstration of instruments that cause only pain. The plot is more interested in being effective than showing the purpose of a weapon, most of the time designed to leave behind a horrifying ethical lesson. This time around, the collection of torture effects is reminiscent of medieval period pieces, with chairs capable of splitting into two bodies. And also with masks that are adjustable with bolts, and disc collars that decapitate with the slightest movement. But this collection seems more eerie and startling than a brutal lesson.

No lesson for the damned

Which is strange and disappointing because Saw X more graphic, explicit and bloody than any other film in the franchise. Kramer, having discovered a scam that deceived patients in deplorable conditions, takes what is happening calmly. So Amanda (Shaunie Smith) becomes his ally once again, planning with him a strategy that will once again demonstrate the killer’s skills in a macabre re-enactment. As well as his ferocity and the eventual revelation of his motives, perhaps the most curious fact of the film..

There is a downturn in the second part of the film as the victims are ready to be sacrificed. Especially when the film unnecessarily lengthens scenes and turns them into graphic ordeals that are more exploitative than necessary from a plot perspective. In the last part the plot is tiring, especially since when Kramer’s fate is already known and what will happen next.

Entertaining, grotesque, uncomfortable, but lacking the sinister satire that defined the franchise, the film does the bare minimum to be memorable. But in short, it’s less effective and less well told than other entries in the franchise. Frustrating, locked into a story already told and limited by its plot, the ending is predictable and without much incentive. What’s happened waste after the return of the killer, who turned torture into a moralistic teaching.