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Well, it isn’t a prequel, but if you seriously think that everything has been leading up to the wooden acting that plagues Saw 3D, then you are sadly mistaken. Sure, you’ll get answers. You’ll get gore. The 3D - while largely silly - isn’t a complete loss either. Hell, you even get Cary Elwes again…just don’t expect much in the way of Jigsaw. Too bad. He’s been part of the fun of the Saw franchise chronology because – for John Kramer – death was certainly not the end, but his lessoning appearance in the series is dully noted in this the supposed final installment. Yet, in spite of it all, Saw 3D does have its moments of cutting-edge fun, just not enough to keep the franchise propelling itself forward.
Continuing exactly where Saw VI left off, the film opens with Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) running into police custody because she has just seen Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) survive her vengeful trap. She asks for immunity after ratting him out as Jigsaw 2.0. Hoffman brings his games into the public forum and kidnaps a false self-help guru, Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) demanding that Tuck be turned over to him. The events quickly spiral out-of-control and Hoffman’s insane asylum tricks see the light of day as everyone, including Tuck, gets “jigsawed” by him. Yet, when he has gone too far with his revenge, he gets an unpleasant trick of his own; a scene which revisits the stomping grounds of the original film.
With a total of eleven traps in this film, Saw 3D takes the cake for the amount of gore and violence; however, its use of 3D is still just as silly as My Bloody Valentine 3D and just as ineffective. Maybe two body-part flying sequences work, but the rest are laughable at best, making the film a victim of some poor moments of self-parody. It that was the effect director Kevin Greutert was going for with the use of 3D, then he is certainly to be applauded for adding a bit o’ comedy into the Sawdust. Somehow, though, I don’t think that was its intended purpose. The effect of 3D should be to add more depth, but there’s none. Not even in its script. Gone are the pointed social comments that made Saw VI worthy of its number. And gone is Jigsaw, for the mysterious Tobin Bell is little seen on-screen and extremely missed as a result. More Mandylor isn't a substitute for Bell's absence either.
Yes, Ewles returning as Dr. Lawrence Gordon is a perfect way to bookend the series. I’m even willing to bet that the first one would never been made if he hadn’t been in it, but there’s no surprise in his return. The filmmakers practically told us it would happen and so it does, but his appearance is practically the only thing that breathes new life into this film and it isn’t reason enough to continue the series…even for its fans. We deserve better and maybe even a little rest from the world of Saw next Halloween.
Saw 3D won’t be a fan favorite, but it will – hopefully – be the end.
MPAA Rating: R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, and language.
