This film
tries too hard to be the 'next big thing'.
You can just tell that director James Wan is
wanting to make as lasting and memorable an
impression as David Fincher did with "Seven"
and Jonathan Demme did with "The Silence of
the Lambs". His style -- his use of vivid,
monstrous images and bloody, gorey context
-- prove that he is more a borrower than an
originator. He takes the same kind of
grungy, dusty approach as Fincher did with
"Seven", but then throws in some of the more
outlandish, visually frightening imagery
that directors like Tobe Hooper and Steven
Spielberg perfected. Not once, while
watching this film, did I believe that I was
watching something totally original. It all
felt so second-hand. The funny thing is --
I liked this film.
The film centers around two men, Dr.
Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh
Whannell), who wake up in a bathroom
somewhere, tied up and in the dark. Between
them, lying in a pool of his own blood, is a
body, with a gun in one hand. At first, the
men cannot figure out where they are and why
they are there. Eventually, Dr. Gordon
realizes that they are the pawns in a sick
game orchestrated by a man known as the
Jigsaw Killer. Dr. Gordon knows because he
was once a suspect in the case. Danny
Glover co-stars as Detective David Tapp, who
fully believed Dr. Gordon as the
perpetrator. The Jigsaw Killer gives the
two men choices -- he tells Dr. Gordon that
he must find a way to kill Adam before 6:00
PM, or he will kill Dr. Gordon's wife and
daughter. The majority of the film is Dr.
Gordon and Adam remembering as to what
brought them there, and trying to figure a
way out of the bathroom that might serve as
their unofficial tomb.
First...what works. The desperation. Cary
Elwes and Leigh Whannell do a great job of
convincing us that they are desperate to get
out of that bathroom. In the way Elwes
screams out for help and starts frantically
sawing away at the chains, knowing it is
useless -- it is very, very disturbing. The
set-up is also highly imaginative. The ways
in which the Jigsaw Killer sets his victims
up are marvelously constructed -- especially
the one involving the guy who is covered in
flammable liquid, but must use a candle to
locate the combination to a lock that
contains his key to freedom. And, the
performances. Cary Elwes, though he does
get a little too bizarre at the end, is
phenomenal here as Dr. Gordon -- especially
when he really starts to lose it. Leigh
Whannell also does a fine job, in one of his
first mainstream roles. Their chemistry
together helps drive the film.
And, what does not work. A lot. A whole
lot. For starters, the Jigsaw Killer does
not seem very creepy -- until the very last
few shots of the film. He does not possess
the same kind of demonic zeal that Kevin
Spacey had in "Seven" or Buffalo Bill had in
"The Silence of the Lambs" -- he seems a
little too tame. Secondly, Danny Glover is
given a character that is pointless to the
progression of the film -- it was a
character that could have been written out
altogether. I think if director James Wan
would have left out all of the flashbacking
and focuses solely on the bathroom, and
making the film more claustrophobic -- then
the outcome would have been much more
suspenseful. But, the most glaring problem
with the film is the way in which the
flashbacks bounce around between the scenes
of the men in the bathroom. By the time
they come, we have already figured out what
they are going to show us -- that is wasting
valuable screen time.
Watching "Saw", I got the feeling that James
Wan was wanting to show us how far people
would go to save their own lives. Alas, he
did not pull it off. He did, however,
manage to show us how irrational,
ridiculous, and utterly nonsensical people
can be when their lives are on the line. I
think that this was a decent film in that it
was entertaining, had a few good scares, and
managed to take the idea of the twist ending
to a whole new, and more exciting level. In
fact, the ending was flawless. However,
more attention needed to be paid to the
pacing and the format of the film. Had that
been the case, "Saw" might have been able to
come a little closer to competing with
"Seven" and "The Silence of the Lambs". My
recommendation -- hurry up and see "Saw"
before the Halloween spirit leaves you. If
not in seen October, I don't think "Saw"
really has much appeal to viewers, and just
won't be as worthwhile.
