Saw IV (2007)

Thrilling, but this should be the finale

Now that Jigsaw and Amanda Young are deceased, the cops are looking for another accomplice. Jigsaw has one last game for them, however, as he swallowed a tape just before death. It's up to the cops to uncover Jigsaw's last plot, and just like always, they must do it before more "innocent" lives are taken.

Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), the SWAT team leader from Saw II, is trapped in yet another intricate killing device, and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is there along with him. Just as the other movies, there has to be a star in Jigsaw's games, and this time it's SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent) who will have his ethics, morals, and fortitude tested. Riggs is given ninety minutes to get through the demented traps in order to teach evil people various macabre lessons, and to save his colleague.

Possibly on the brink of approaching Friday the 13th and Police Academy levels, this sequel to Saw is one level away from a level that should never be repeated. There is a very interesting sequence of events that uncovers how Jigsaw became the engineering genius turned serial killer. Now that the truth is known, and the attempt at viewer understanding and maybe even sympathy is made, there is a moral resolution, a vindication, and this absolutely, unequivocally has to be the finale to the series.

Originality waning, Saw IV is a little lackluster compared to that of the first in the Saw series; and that's the problem, because it's the clever originality that made the initial Saw such a success. June 11, 2008

Just like the other Saws, only...

Saw IV is just like the other Saw movies, only, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. Even Saw III came together at the end, just barely; not Saw IV. Here it is: Costas Mandylor did it. For no particular reason than he was in one of the earlier Saw movies. That's it. Now I've saved you the time. Aren't you glad you read my review? There's NOTHING about Saw IV that is better, or even as good as, the other Saw movies, which I think were pretty spectacular in a horrifyingly creepy, awful way. Let the series die, please. I don't want to play a game anymore. May 21, 2008

A Worthy Fourth Installment

The SAW franchise is still going strong. This film "fleshes" out the entire Saw continuity. It was hard to imagine what the film would be like without it's two main leads, but fear not...the games go on. I feel that by the time this series reaches its conclusion, it will be obvious why this particular film was so important. Highly recommended for Saw fans and horror fans alike. A great, fun, gory experience. May 5, 2008

The Most Complex Saw Yet

In many ways, it's hard to reach a definitive verdict on the level of "Saw IV" until the fifth chapter comes out this October; Saw IV, much more so than any of its predecessors, felt like it didn't so much actually end, as it paused for a year-long intermission. The series has become very complicated (too much for so some, although I'm loving the increasingly labyrithine structure) and just as it hits a major revelation that makes it clear what's been happening in this chapter, the end credits roll, seemingly with so much poised to start taking place. Saw III ended on a cliffhanger like "The Empire Strikes Back", Saw IV's strange non-ending is more like the finale to "Matrix Reloaded".

The stage was all set at the end of Saw III for Jigsaw's final game, but rather than delve fully into that angle, the movie brings back some previously minor characters (some major ones, too, but it's previously 'bit' players who end up with a surprising lions share of the focus here) and greatly expands their role in the whole series through a non-linear storyline that goes through several time frames. The origin of Jigsaw and his previously briefly-touched-on relationship with his ex-wife Jill are also expanded in flashbacks, and we see the very early, simple deathtraps constructed by Jigsaw at the beginning of his 'career'. How well this will ultimately mesh with everything from the first three is still partially up in the air; they didn't foul it up here, but Saw V is going to have to be very tight to tie everything together fully - not just events but the different characterizations of Jigsaw and the others as they've progressed and changed.

Lyriq Bent's character of Rigg gets turned into a much more central character this time around, having been personally selected by Jigsaw to be put through a wringer of tests designed to force him to make choices between risking the lives of the innocent characters he's searching for, or allowing those already judged guilty by Jigsaw to die along the way. The immediate question people will ask is how can the games continue after Saw III's rather definitive endscene, but things have been organized well in advance; the much greater use of flashbacks also opens up possibilities.

It was a risk to deliberately complicate things so much this far into an already highly involved series, but this is in keeping with the series. The first Saw was great but it was questionable from the beginning whether it should spawn even one sequel, let alone a long-running series. Each new chapter though, has not only succeeded but gotten more complex, deeper, and has enriched the films that came before it. Often even more intense too, and Saw IV is probably the goriest chapter yet. It's left a lot more unresolved than the previous ones (and requires even closer attention to understand); despite its status where I may not be 100% sure how this will ultimately hold up once the storylines it launched play out in Saw V, I'm still going to go with a 5-star rating. First of all, there's no way that, however Saw V turns out, that this will rate less than a four, or probably four-and-a-half star rating - regardless of how a sequel plays into its successors and predecessors it still has to be judged primarily on its own merits. For that little bit of doubt, the series has earned the benefit of the doubt: thus far everything they do keeps doing justice to the earlier ones, and I suspect (and hope) the next entry will do the same.

And even if it doesn't, Saw IV succeeded on a difficult track. It could have been great without adding these new angles to the mix, but apparantly they thought these angles were worth exploring, so in they came and the risk payed off. Another winning chapter in what's emerged as one of horror's all-time greatest series. May 2, 2008

saw iv

love the SAW films but wonder if they jumped that shark? HOW can we believe AMANDA was a near engineer; wonder about the new guy too. You just dont BECOME an engineer 'like that' May 2, 2008

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