SAW 3D Review

After the first Saw movie, which presented something genuine and innovative, I have come to enjoy the sequels, which has for the most part felt like bland copies, mostly for the traps rather than the storylines.

I really hoped that Saw 3D would give me something that was up to par with the first movie, but sadly it felt like the creators once again, stepped right into the repetition trap.

The biggest problem, as I see it, is that the story feels rushed like if they have tried to squeeze two movies into one, which makes it comes off as half-baked, instead of a complete movie.

The story contains too many major characters, elements and references to previous Saw movies, which makes it hard to get a coherent grip of what is really going on.

First there is Bobby Dagen, a man who claims to be a Jigsaw survivor and is now earning a good living from that through his books, but is he really the one he claims to be? Then we have Mark Hoffman, Jigsaw’s wife Jill and the internal affairs’ detective Matt Gibson in something that can be described a deadly cat-and-mouse game.

Having two stories, which doesn’t tie into each other in a logical way, makes the movie a bit baffling to follow. I would rather have seen two movies, one with the Bobby Dagen arc and after that, a movie that ties everything together in an epic Jigsaw way.

That way we could have had two good movies, instead of a just one half-decent movie, that way the poster depicting the gigantic Jigsaw structure would make sense, as well.

The Traps in Saw 3D

Since the first Saw movie, the traps have been the series trademark and biggest assets. Even if a Saw movie has been weak, you could always count on the traps to step in to save the day – like they do this time.

And to be perfectly honest, is it not those gory and limb-ripping traps we look forward to seeing, as we sit down to watch a Saw movie?

Of course it is!

In Saw 3D we can enjoy eleven traps, where some are actually the best and most evil ones to be featured in a Saw movie. Like the garage trap, for instance, where a car is triggered to set of a butchery chain reaction, almost in a Final Destination style.

However, even if the garage trap is disturbingly brutal, it pales in comparison with the fish hook trap, though.

In the fish-hook trap, a woman is strapped to a chair, with sharp metal spikes directed to her neck. In her mouth she has a string, which goes down to her stomach, with a key and a fish-hook attached to its end. To get out of the trap, the string must be pulled up through her mouth, within one minute, or else the spikes will penetrate her. The catch is that if she screams, while the hook tears her esophagus to shreds, the spikes will advance toward her.

With all the traps in the series, the fish-hook trap is my favorite and the only one that have made me squirm in my seat.

The Conclusion

In the end I think that Saw 3D faces a weak baffling storyline and mediocre acting, which the glorious traps cannot save it from completely. Therefore it fails to give us that grand finale we were hoping to see, before the clock runs out!

If you are a Saw fan, chances are that you will enjoy this movie, most for its traps, while others may find the gory traps, wrapped up in a jagged storyline, to be just another repulsive second-rate horror flick.

After all the clocks have run out and the blood has dried, my rating of Saw 3D will be two stars out of five.

Saw 3D Trailer & Details:

Directed by: Kevin Greutert
Written by: Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan
Staring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell and Sean Patrick Flanery