Saw III

Rating: R18 - Contains Sadistic Violence.
Duration: 109 mins.
Genre: Psychological, Thriller.
Actors: Donnie Wahlberg, Dina Meyer, Angus MacFadyen, Shawnee Smith, Barry Flatman, Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Lyriq Bent, Bahar Soomekh, Alan Van Sprang, Franky G.
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman.
Release Date: Available Now.

Synopsis
After eluding the cops at the end of the second installment, Jigsaw sets up in an abandoned warehouse and with the help of his protégée Amanda kidnaps a doctor who's forced to keep him alive. Barely clinging to life, Jigsaw starts another chapter in his experiments on those he sees as already being dead…

The Reality
The Saw movies have always fascinated me. Here is a story about a serial killer, who has never killed anyone. Sure plenty of people have died in the devices he has set up, but they all had a chance at freedom.

More so, Jigsaw’s intention has always been to force them to actually live the life they have been given rather than squander it away. Of course not many of his – lets call them contestants – have managed to grasp the freedom that has been offered – or is that forced – upon them.

All three Saw movies are bloody and graphic, and definitely not for the squeamish. But one thing they don’t seem to be is gratuitous. Of course people will disagree with me on that point, but I’ve seen the other so called masterpiece of this genre, Hostel, and that is an exercise in the gratuitous.

Saw uses graphic scenes to make you uncomfortable, to force you to think hard about what is going on, to try and make it real. In a way the viewer is being forced to play one of Jigsaw’s mind games.

The real clincher for most fans I would have to say is the fact that the Saw movies are never dull, there are no fillers to make the movie longer and there is never any predictability in the plot. I don’t think anyone could come away from any of these movies and say; ‘I saw that coming a mile off.’

So what does the third instalment offer? It carries along a similar vein to the previous movies, but – and this is the part where I warn you there may be plot spoilers from now on – this is the one where a lot of questions are answered.

The movie starts off with the usual warm up victims, but this time something seems off, there doesn’t seem to be any real chance of escape for these victims, and this isn’t how the game is supposed to be played.

And then there’s the body count – it’s looking like its going to end up being a lot lower.

With less players you might start wondering if the pace is going to be slower than expected, but no, this is an edge of your seats ride as we follow Jeff, a man dying on the inside from the loss of his son, with the agony of un-forgiveness consuming him.

It’s this raging internal struggle that Jigsaw tries to set right by putting the lives of everyone involved in his sons death into Jeff’s hands. If he can help save their lives and at the same time let go of his dead son, Jeff will find the freedom that only forgiveness brings.

If he doesn’t, he’ll find himself permanently stuck in the hell of un-forgiveness for the rest of his life.

But it’s not all about the victims this time, as the creators seem to want to bring this franchise to a close, we find out a lot more about the back story of the entire series. We are given hints as to what may have influenced Jigsaw’s lust to be a brutal judge and jury. We discover how Amanda became his protégée, and ultimately despite looking like the final instalment of a trilogy, the creators of Saw seem to have set up for an entirely different incarnation of the franchise.

Saw 3 is probably the most brutal, twisted masterpiece to date.

Food for thought
If you’re not willing to let go of the pain, then you will never find freedom from the things that have hurt you.

Special Features (not reviewed):
• Never-before-seen deleted scenes
• 'The Traps of Saw III' - a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the movie
• 2 additional behind-the-scenes featurettes.