It’s been 7 years since the last Saw film, and Lionsgate has seen fit to resurrect the franchise, which once reigned supreme on All Hallows Eve way before Paranormal Activity or The Purge. Jigsaw, the 8th film in the Saw series (originally titled Saw: Legacy), was directed by the Spierig brothers, who gave us the severely underrated sci-fi mindblower Predestination, combined with script from the writers of — Piranha 3D?!?!? For fans of the series like myself, this new entry promised to bring back Tobin Bell in the role of the Jigsaw Killer in what many are probably hoping will reboot this series and introduce a new generation to Jigsaw. The only problem is the film squanders its potential on a cast of unknowns that makes this film feel at times like a USA-produced police procedural drama rather than an actual Saw film.
Jigsaw picks up 10 years after the death of John Kramer AKA Jigsaw, the infamous serial killer known for not killing his victims, but placing them in traps that test their will to live and moral fortitude through physical or psychological torture. The film opens with a man on a roof with a remote detonator and a familiar choice. Pull the trigger to begin a new game, saving himself, or sacrifice himself to save the lives of those trapped. He of course triggers the new game and is shot anyway by surrounding police, and the bodies begin to start piling up one by one, all with that trademark puzzle piece cut into their flesh and a clue. As the film cuts from the police who are desperately trying to figure out if this is indeed the real John Kramer or another apprentice, we witness the game in progress and our players, who strangely all share a deeply personal connection to Jigsaw.
For hard core fans of the series, the traps here are a bit more primitive and show a back to basics approach for Jigsaw as opposed to the more elaborate contraptions that showed up later in the series. While they are adequate, most of them taking place on an old pig farm, they just lack some of the shock and the real moral dilemmas presented in previous films. While this is all explained away eventually, I just feel like that was no excuse to skimp on one of the hallmarks of what this series is known for. There is also a real lack of clarity at times as to the what Jigsaw is trying to accomplish and his message with the traps he’s set or what the person has to do to prove they are worthy to move to the next stage of the test at hand.
Jigsaw has some interesting ideas, and Tobin Bell is amazing as usual in the role, but it’s the cast around him and the half baked script that just don’t feel worthy of his return to the series. With a budget that is half of what the last film in the franchise cost, even though it went on to make almost 6 times that, Jigsaw feels like a cheap and halfhearted attempt that would have probably fared better on VOD. I really felt like Tobin Bell was just squandered here in a film that could have returned this franchise to its former glory, but I don’t see that with a lazy film that lacks the teeth of its predecessors and almost at times feels like a parody of itself. As a fan of the series I am more than a little disappointed by Jigsaw, and my only hope is that maybe if this film makes money the next entry will fare a bit better. While I have to give the writers points for a somewhat interesting twist, the execution here is a mess best consumed on Netflix or with Movie Pass.