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Sequels are never as good as the original, everybody knows that. Unless you are talking to some extreme middle earth fan who can really “relate” to Frodo’s dilemma concerning the Lord of the Rings, than nobody would disagree that when it comes to a film franchise, the first is always the best.
This is especially true with the infamous Saw films. The creators of Saw have demonstrated their dedication to gore addicts around the world by releasing a new film every year. Being the loyal horror movie fanatic that I am, I have seen every single one of them in theatres, but I cannot deny my disappointment. It saddens me to hear the lame reviews that have accompanied these movies and the steadily decreasing reputation of Jigsaw, the twisted serial killer who never actually kills his victims but allows them the luxury of taking their lives into their own hands, literally. While I would prefer nothing more than to give a rave review of Saw 5, I must be honest with my fellow scary movie fans: it just wasn’t that good.
The opening scene of the Saw movies has always been critical, and most of the time, they deliver satisfaction. The cringing and nausea I felt while watching the beginning of Saw 2, when a young man was forced to try and cut open his eye, was great! However, the pendulum blade opening scene of Saw 5 did not recreate this warm and fuzzy feeling in me. In fact, it almost seemed tame, compared to what I was expecting. Even so, I waited with anticipation for the plot to unfold, hoping that the traps would become more intense and flinch worthy. Unfortunately, I was let down.
In Saw 5, the focus goes back and forth between Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson), Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), and the latest group of victims, consisting of five people. Hoffman is the one who has taken on the responsibility of Jigsaw’s work, and truth be told, he has not really lived up to his master’s name. The fact that there was a group of victims that were told to work together to survive promoted teamwork and was reminiscent of Saw 2. Even so, the traps seemed less creative. The threat of a bomb going off at the end of each task in Saw 5 seemed less scary than the threat of bleeding out from every orifice in your body caused by breathing in a deadly nerve gas that the victims of the Saw 2 were treated to. Strahm is the agent who spends the whole movie playing the true “good guy”, trying to get to the bottom of things, only to find the walls closing in on him, quite literally.
I understand that with Jigsaw dead the legacy must be continued through a disciple, but the truth is that the student never really masters the teacher. This can be seen in the Saw franchise; they really have to take it up a notch. Amanda seemed to be on the right track at the end of Saw 2 but she turned out to be a disappointment. Hoffman really needs to tune in to his creative side to impress me. Will I see the next installment of Saw? Absolutely. The brilliance of the first one and the hope of a sequel that measures up to the original has me hooked.
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