And here we are, the game should be over, everyone going home for the night, so what am I still doing here? Well, there’s still one more game to be played, and that’s finding out what places were among the series as a whole after binging through and reviewing them.
These will be from worst to best, because as a wise man once said, “It’s about PRESENTATION”, Megamind is totally a Saw-adjacent movie, just ask those kids who saw the opening of Saw 3D instead of Megamind (no, that’s a true story, look it up). These will be brief thoughts on each movie, longer thoughts on each are in their respective articles!
10/10 – Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
….does this even count as a Saw movie? The traps all suck, it’s basically just an hour and a half of police procedurals, minor mechanical menacing, and tonal whiplash every few minutes with jokes.
I wanted so much more from this, but what I got was a disappointment.
9/10 – Saw VII: The Final Chapter 3D (2010)
What a strange movie.
On one hand, there’s a genuinely creative setup for the trap plot but on the other, it’s so mean and over the top and borderline misogynistic it’s hard to stomach, beyond that the frankly absurd choice to turn Hoffman into the next Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees is a groaner.
8/10 – Saw IV (2007)
This just kinda sucked, yeah I wanna say something snappy, but I got nothing, it’s serviceable I guess, but it’s just ninety minutes of Rigg on a scavenger hunt that ends in one of the most confusing continuity reveals in a minute, I remember really liking the spike trap though.
7/10 – Jigsaw (2017)
Going forward, none of these are bad per se, they all are at least enjoyable.
This one however could have used more John Kramer and less police plot, Logan is a fine successor, and the laser trap is awesome, this is sure to be appreciated by fans in time, even if it plays it a little too safe at points.
6/10 – Saw V (2008)
The idea is there for this one after John is legit dead and Hoff comes out the hero, Strahm investigates the man himself, mind you, it’s not bad, and that closing trap is one for the ages, but the trap plot stuff doesn’t really hold my attention as none of those characters are all that interesting, although they do have a fun reveal with that later.
5/10 – Saw III (2006)
An incredibly solid idea for an entry, I just hate the main character thoroughly, the traps are all excellent, and good lord, this has a reveal almost on par with the first two, it’s decent, and Shawnee Smith as Amanda is great here.
4/10 – Saw (2004)
There’s a reason this movie spawned as many sequels as it did because it’s damn good.
Yeah, the editing is a little much, but man, it’s so simple but so slick, Wan and Whannell really cooked something special up here.
3/10 – Saw II (2005)
It’s everything great about the original just taken to the next level, what’s not to love?
The addition of Donnie Wahlberg into the cast is also an excellent one as he plays off Tobin Bell incredibly well.
2/10 Saw VI (2009)
Up until recently, this was my favorite Saw movie, and it’s not hard to see why, a brilliant commentary, iconic traps, karmic justice, it’s got it all.
1/10 Saw X (2023)
The first time that John and Amanda both are made into vulnerable real people and it makes this game feel all the more necessary, traps that are soon to be fan favorites, and above all else, it just was a beautiful-looking movie, which isn’t what I go into a Saw movie thinking about (although there was still the Breaking Bad esque yellow filter in Mexico).
Conclusion
I hope you all enjoyed this little throwback series to how we got to this point with the Saw series, this was a lot of fun to do and a lot of hard work.
What’s fun is, I had only got into these movies around the fall of last year and now here I am, acting like I’ve been a fan all my life, but it’s passion, and it’s here, and it’s impossible to rationalize it half the time, you just gotta go where it takes you.
I’m planning more like this in the very near future, so stay tuned, and for now, game over.
Read more from Kyle’s Saw-Trospective Series:
Part one: Saw-Trospective Part I: Kramer Trilogy Review (‘Saw’, ‘Saw II’, ‘Saw III’)
Part two: Saw-Trospective Part II: Successor Trilogy Review (‘Saw IV’, ‘Saw V’, ‘Saw VI’)
Part three: Saw-Trospective Part III: Legacy Trilogy (‘Saw 3D’, ‘Jigsaw’, ‘Spiral’)
