Even if they made 300 saw movies I'd still watch them...
“Killing is distasteful... to me."
Ok these flashbacks are getting a little out of hand. It was a little cool at first but by the 5th film I got tired of it.
"If you're good at anticipating the human mind, it leaves nothing to chance."
Traps Ranked (worst way to die order):
1. Pendulum Trap - you had me at "bones crushed to dust". I thought the hand crushing was bad until I saw the pendulum
2. Glass Coffin - crushed to death. Outch!
3. Water Cube - drowning is up there in the worst ways to die for sure
4. Shotgun Chair - instant death. "Distasteful" trap for this franchise
5. 10 Pints of Sacrifice - hurts but doesn't kill you. Nice gore
6. Electric Bathtub - Lame
7. Neck Tie Trap - Lame
8. Ceiling Jars - can't believe this actually counts as a trap. Lame
As I continue watching the Saw franchise in its entirety, leading up to Halloween 2023, the films continue to disappoint me. This was an even bigger disappointment all the way around than its predecessor, Saw IV . The traps were fewer, the ingenuity (apart from the Pendulum Trap) of the traps wasn't as good, the overall story was more confusing (to me, anyway), more convoluted, and more difficult to follow. I'm not a huge fan of the time-leap backward/forward films, and this one (like its aforementioned predecessor) was too "busy" trying to interweave multiple stories and characters and wound up getting very muddy almost from the beginning. I mean, it was obvious what was was going on, who the villain was behind the "Jigsaw" traps, etc but even knowing that almost up-front, this film was just really weird and hard to follow. There was no recurring theme throughout, as there were in at least the first three films. Although Tobin Bell brilliantly revised his role as "Jigsaw" - and still carried the authenticity of despising murder and only using his methods to get people to "see the error of their ways" and begin to live life differently - he doesn't convey that ruthless detachment and desensitized aura to those whom he chooses to disciple; instead, they (Amanda, Hoffman, etc) keep coming across of wanting nothing but revenge and to inflict pain on their victims. To me, the one thing that made Saw such a great movie was Bell's "believability": he carried the authenticity of a sociopath who truly believed the ends justify the means, ergo "If I have to force someone to rip their own body to shreds to help them see the error of their ways, then I'm doing them - and society - a service. If they choose to not learn, then so be it." What a brilliant mentality to portray on-screen!...and that's (again, IMO) what made the original Saw and its first two successors such brilliant psychological thrillers. In Saw IV and Saw V all I'm seeing is brutality, vengeance, pain inflicted for the sole pleasure of watching victims suffer...blood and gore but not much in the way of psychological torture. It seems the more these movies turn out (speaking specifically of the Saw films) the more they just seem to be trying to "one-up" the preceding film in gruesomeness, brutality, gore, and the "traps"...and the story itself (thus, the viewers) suffer. I hope the next one will prove me wrong but this one earns only a "6". Even the traps in this one weren't that good. Not a big fan of this particular installment.
Saw 5 is like the story of something exciting that happened to you that you share with everyone you know. The first couple times it's fun and exciting, but by the time you get to the 5th telling, you cut corners and try less because it gets old fast.
It's not easy to say the same thing 5 times and act like it's new each time. And I swear to God the director got paid by the flashback -- I'd create some kind of drinking game (Wanna play a game?) where you have to drink a shot for every flashback, but then y'all would die from alcohol poisoning.
This movie is about a detective figuring out the plots of Saw III and Saw IV.
Jigsaw may be dead, but his work continues on in Saw V. FBI agent Peter Strahm plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with police detective Mark Hoffman after coming to suspect that he was Jigsaw’s accomplice; meanwhile 5 people fight for their lives in a maze full of death traps. The writing is really poor, as Strahm’s investigation into Hoffman couldn’t be more boring and the death maze segments seem completely disconnected from the rest of the film. Void of any suspense or thrills, Saw V is a pale imitation of what has come before.
The re-watchening continues w/ my 31 Dys Of Horror - are you kidding me that we even watched the 5th one too?
Good cop and bad cop in the game of traps, and the series continues.
Now that we are back on track with the future of the franchise, it takes a noticeable step forward from Part IV. Still notches lower than the stupendous trilogy, it’s a quality watch and a service to its fans.
Rating: 3/5 - 75% - Worth Watching
The series starts to have fun again, lightening up after the last two. And Hoffman just might be growing on me. The man’s a thug, a city dog? and the thing people forget about both of those things is that they’re smarter than you think. They’ve survived this long. And a big reason for that is instead of trying to impress you with big speeches they just take in the environment they’re in and do the damn thing they have to. His smug little head tilt in the ending while letting his tape say the words needed. It’s a great contrast to Strahm’s raging at the dying light.
But half of the traps aren’t that great, beside the pendulum, the pints of blood, and the wall, and the game side of the plot suffers from them killing off the reporter too early, who’s actor is clearly having the most fun and could’ve been the Xavier for this movie. The message is nice and all, but it’s not written or performed strong enough to land. This plot line feels almost obligatory, with the characters being too bland to really effect you. But a nice touch is the characters being aware of how this works now. That’s a fun wrinkle that livens it up.
And the movies clearly think John is bad. I’m sure the creatives think John is bad. But the movie also wants you to go ‘but doesn’t he have a bit of a point?’ Again painting Jill’s clinic as naive and misguided, bringing up recidivism rates, and nothing countering it. It’s become more pronounced with IV and V and all the diving into John’s backstory and the need to explain the why of his everything, and I hope it pulls back.
Speaking of that need to explain, a chunk of the film is scrambling to set up Hoffman a film after they needed to, with assurances that he was here all along, and it just doesn’t work. It’s so transparent. Hoffman’s here because his actor was the last man standing, not his character, and they needed to slot someone in. And the ‘twist’ can barely be called that. It’s coming from a mile away. It’s not a plot twist, it’s just. A plot. And the ending suffers for it and the contrivance of Strahm not listening to the rest of the tape. But it is a brutal ending, and if they keep this energy going for Hoffman, I just might get Hoffmanpilled. And ultimately, it was fun enough. That’s just about all I really demand from these movies.
30 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN 2023 #9
It was ok. The story was a bit of a bore, and the gore could have been better.
After the awful fourth part, "Saw V" is again a minor improvement for me. But that's not exactly because of the main plot, which has the same weaknesses as its predecessor. Most of the actors are still lousy, especially Costas Mandylor and Betsy Russell. The plot holes remain, and the characters do not behave in a comprehensible manner. It's obvious why Jigsaw speaks in riddles, but why do all the other characters do the same? What saves the film for me in the end are the traps and the whole "game". This time it's halfway interesting again, even if the writers don't manage to build even a rudimentary connection between the two plot elements. Thus, both things run parallel. The finale, however, worked quite well for me, both in terms of brutality and the prospects for the sequel.
I'm currently binge watching all Saw movies, it is getting worse and worse. They should have stopped on Saw 3.
7.5/10
So Good
Saw V Arguably
the best installment so far.
the 2nd installment still has the
edge of being the best all round
but the unrated final cut
5th installment has some nice
brutal scenes in it, that's
all I've been asking for.
still the Traps and the people
continue to get less and less
interesting.
Billy the Puppet had some great
screen time this installment,
what gets me though is
nobody ever listens to John,
he's literally telling him/her
look you really need to listen
to survive this, and do they
No They Do Not.
(going in alone, never waiting
for backup or telling anyone
that they believe they are chasing
down a trap master, it stresses me
out, no wonder everyone gets got.
Well 5 Installments in and the
Games continue as does my
31 days of Horror.
NEXT........
Saw V isn't as interesting as the rest of the bunch that came before. It again chances everything with flashbacks and we get a cop vs. cop cat and mouse game. With one being Jigsaw and the other being framed as Jigsaw.
Like every Saw IV this one picks up at the end of III as well. They show us how Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) became Jigsaw's successor. How he is involved in various traps from the past movies etc. etc. The best that those scenes has going for it is Tobin Bell. His scenes are what is the best about this SAW, well almost every SAW film.
We also get a group that has to go through room to room, trap to trap. Most of them, well all but 3, involving bombs. You are really creative Jigsaw Hoffman! Anyway, we get the most brutal trap in the opening, which was very well filmed!
So yeah this one is okay but not one I would recommend.
Shout by cikuBlockedParent2021-05-18T02:11:17Z
I had trouble differentiating between the two cops (Strahm and Hoffman) throughout the movie. Why cast two males that look so similar and then give them identical haircuts?