Saw: The Final Chapter (A.K.A. Saw 3D)


 

Plot Synopsis:

Detective Hoffman seeks revenge on Jill Tuck, who searches for protection from an internal affairs agent. Meanwhile, a man named Bobby Dagen is placed into a trap because he lied about being a Jigsaw survivor just so he could profit off of it. 

Positives: 

I like the scene with the car trap. It's one of the few times where I don't mind the effects too much. It's also kind of fun for me as a Linkin Park fan because the guy glued to the car seat is played by Chester Bennington, the band's late lead singer. It's also one of the very few scenes in the movie that actually makes sense to me from a story standpoint. I will also give credit to the silent circle trap. It's a difficult scene for me to watch in a good way. 

Mixed Aspects: 

I hate to say this, but my first mixed aspect is John Kramer. I'm happy to see him in the movie, and as usual, it feels like Tobin Bell is acting circles around the rest of the cast. My problem is that he's pretty much just a glorified cameo. My next mixed aspect is Jill Tuck. I like that she's still smart enough to seek out internal affairs and immediately ask for immunity. However, the last movie shows her in a much more coldhearted light. So, for this movie to follow that up with her resorting to cowering in fear feels a little weird to me. Adding on to that, I also don't like how they wrap her character up in this movie, if I'm being honest. My next mixed aspect is actually the movie's twist. I do actually like the twist. But, even I can admit that it was kind of obvious. I liked it more for the potential than the actual execution. That leads into my final mixed aspect for the movie is the trap plot. I like the idea of the trap plot. However, I don't think it's executed as well as it could be. 

Negatives: 

For the most part, the gore in this movie is awful. It also doesn't help that the movie looks incredibly cheap. From a story standpoint, I hate the brazen bull trap. The character placed in that trap is someone the movie admits was being deceived the whole time. She is punished for being a trophy. Watching this movie again, I really don't like the Gibson character. He's not especially well-written, and actor Chad Donella gives what I think is easily one of the worst performances in the entire franchise. I really don't like the fact that this movie is labeled as "the final chapter." It's not because they kept making movies after this. I kind of just expect that out of horror movies at this point. It's because there isn't much that gives this movie any sense of finality. In most respects, this just feels like another Saw movie. Bringing things back to the twist, it shows a possibility of where the franchise could have gone (even though it didn't). I think that is what drives it home for me that this doesn't really have a sense of finality to it. 

Final Thoughts: 

So, this movie got a good bit worse for me on this most recent re-watch. Even for a movie series that never cost that much to make, this movie looked particularly cheap. While there were some ideas here that I liked, I found the execution for most of them to be lacking. There were a couple of traps I liked fine. But, I think I can safely say this is the worst movie of this entire franchise thus far. 

My Rating: 

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