Spiral From The Book of Saw, Who is the Judge?

The Saw franchise has been interesting to say the least. The torture horror genre was largely created by the franchise. I was impressed with the premise of the first movie back when the series started some years ago. I was shocked and in a sad sort of way, entertained with the first movie although it and the following predecessors were difficult to watch at times. None of the follow up's to the original movie was nearly as good as the first movie in the series but I felt an obligation to continue to review the series. I was glad when the series ended as I had grown to despise the movies. Then last year, I saw trailers for Spiral, From The Book of Saw a continuation of the Saw series that starred Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. I was once again intrigued.

Chris Rock plays quite nicely the part of Detective Zeke Banks, a detective who earlier in his career had to turn in a bad cop. At the time his father Marcus Banks played by Samuel L. Jackson was the Chief of Police and did what he could to protect his son from the other police who sought to follow the code of conduct where police officers protect, even bad police officers. It is as Detective Zeke Banks character starts the investigation of police murders that the viewer quickly realizes that Saw or a copycat has brought the character back and is taking out vengeance on bad police officers.

The movie actually develops quite nicely and is shot and filmed well. It is easy to tell early on that Chris Rock is a natural for comedy, there are a few comedic moments that while he is not a great dramatic actor, he does an adequate job and has potential for more dramatic roles in the future. The good cop nature of Zeke Banks is still in tact and he seeks to uncover the mystery that is. He at times gets himself into trouble and is assigned a new partner, Detective William Schenk played by Max Minghella. Zeks doesn't want a partner but he gets one anyway. What begins to transpire as the two investigate the case is a mystery. Who has taken on the new role of SAW? 

In the development of the story we see the strained relationship between Zeke and his father. The case brings the two together with an understanding not had previously. We also see how a good cop can be damaged by a good ol boy system. 

There are parts of this movie that seriously address the WOKE generation but not from one side or another, but in a way that asks questions. We see the difficulties police go through, seeing that there are both good and bad cops. All of these discussion points are most definitely relevant in the times we live in and the reports we often see on the news and read in our news sources. We see themes often discussed on social media.  At least we see an open discussion and presentation that presents all aspects in a entertaining way, without telling us how to think, it allows us to make our own decisions. Hopefully we ponder various perspectives. One question asked, is do we choose to live in a world that allows vengeance or will we live in a world where we fairly judge each case on its individual merit?

I was pleasantly pleased with Spiral The Book of Saw. It had less gore and torture than previous episodes, I felt it could stand alone and be enjoyed for what it is. It truly plays out as more of a mystery thriller than it does a horror film. There are not the long drawn out episodes of torture which made the earlier films so difficult to watch. Sure, there are graphic images of torture, but they are mostly bearable.   

In the long run, I was left with the question, are we as individuals the ones to execute justice in a broken world? Can I/we be effective in the execution of justice? Or, is it possible that God is the final authority on justice?  Can we wait? Will we be patient?  Are those of us who choose to execute justice in such a swift way without considering the facts, the possibility of redemption and change, the real Saws that exist in our world?  If judged for past actions, are we all guilty?

On a scale of 1 - 10 while not the best movie ever, take away the 3 letters of the word Saw and this one ranks an entertaining and thought provoking 7 

 

To see the trailer for this film click on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzy6ORqE9IY

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Jigsaw, 2017

One of the things I often hear is,  "how great it must be to get to do movie reviews." Most of the time that is correct, it is an awesome thing but what a lot of folks don't think about are the times that a part of doing reviews are movies you know prior to sitting down in the theater that you know from the outset you are going to hate and ultimately at the end of the experience after the credits have rolled, you were correct. 

The Saw series is a horror series that with exception of the first one, (which I didn't like) I have hated  with all the sequels, prequels and everything else associated with the franchise. I was so excited when I heard they had concluded the series only to recently find out it was all a lie and that for the love of money they resurrected it with the new release of Jigsaw, the character behind the Saw movies who supposedly died in the last feature of Saw.

If I had to point out any aspects of the film that were quite good it would be the sound in the picture. Horror movies have mastered the use of sound as a character to scare the viewer. The use of sound and music to draw upon emotions is a trait many styles of film and directors could learn from.

There were other attributes of this movie that were better than expected. To the surprise of many,  Jigsaw can be seen as a continuation of the television show The Glades. The star of that show, Matt Passamore takes on the character of Logan Nelson in Jigsaw which is a similar role for him. He has either been typecast so plays the same character from one role to another or this is the only kind of role he can play It isn't that he is a bad actor, in some ways he is the best part of Jigsaw which features a decent cast including, Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, Callum Keith Rennie as Detective Halloran and Hannah Emily Anderson as Elanor Bonneville among others. Then again the sound and score is exceptional and the special effects are real enough to make one cringe throughout the movie which has as a feature, torturous deaths.

I had to wonder when watching this movie about a few things, one is the desire to see what I would consider violent, gory torture porn portrayed in such a real way that it was hard to watch. I also had to question the viewers in the theater who find humor in this with their literal laugh out loud some have through the most gruesome scenes. What has moved a segment of society to find humor in this type of imagery? 

There were other attributes that had me thinking. One of the themes  is the justified judgment of those who seem to deserve to die and be tortured in the process. In some ways Jigsaw is portrayed as a God like character handing out judgment to those who have sinned in a horrible way. It plays on a philosophy of an evil judgmental God. The problem with this is that the character is virtually void of love, redemption or forgiveness of those who have done wrong. I am also reminded though of the words of Jesus who complicated things, teachings such as, "those without sin cast the first stone."  He also said things like "while some talk of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, I tell you to love one another."  Then He went so far as to say, "that if you look at a woman and desire her, you are guilty of adultery," and "if you are angry at someone, then you are guilty of murder."  Under those guidelines, whom of us wouldn't Jigsaw find some justification for killing and torturing?  I would like to see a movie that finds redemptive attributes of at least a few characters, Jigsaw provides none.

We live in a world where it seems as if we are motivated to violence, from politics to religion and from one sporting team to another. Is it any wonder that concepts of civil discourse have been lost and are so desired by some in our world? 

Let me make clear if I haven't already, seeing this movie was a job, there was little fun about watching Jigsaw. I don't think I can clarify enough how much I dislike this series.  While it was a tad better than most of the other films in the series, there are far better films to see in my opinion. Unfortunately, this film, during October will do a fair box office and likely make money, otherwise, they wouldn't keep making them. Personally, I wish for a major flop so they would quit making these movies but I don't expect that, I expect profits to keep driving the franchise.  I hope for at least characters deserving of redemption and something positive to come about other than spending time feeling guilty about watching a type of vile, torturous pornography.

On a scale of 1 - 10 while some positives regarding film making, for the 3 letters in the word YUK, I give a lowly not worth it 3

To see the trailer for this movie, click on the following video, if it doesn't appear, try the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPP6aIw1vgY



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