Saw IV

It's a testament to how good the original Saw was that the series can fall so far and still not actually be “bad.” Saw IV was basically a scramble to keep the story going longer, but it largely ends up over-compensating with far too much story. The biggest losses are, of course, Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith as John “Jigsaw” Kramer and Amanda Young. From this point forward in the franchise their appearances are limited to flashbacks.

Beyond that, at this point the films become more like a soap opera than a series of standalone films. It's not simply that the story is serialized, but that the storylines no longer have the weight to justify individual movies. While the only Saw film I've seen in theatres is The Final Chapter, I imagine it must have been frustrating to wait an entire year for the next of what feels more like an episode in a weekly series than a yearly movie franchise.

If there is an A-plot to this movie it's the attempted recruitment of a new Apprentice. Detective Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent), a man whose personal life has suffered because of his obsession with trying to save as many people as possible, is taken and put through a series of traps. Rather than trying to save his own life, Rigg is told that Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is still alive, in a trap with Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), and only the tests can lead Rigg to them.

Rigg is shown a series of people guilty of horrible crimes. In each case, Riggs has to decide whether or not to interfere with the traps, and in one case whether or not to initiate a trap himself. Meanwhile we periodically get shots of Matthews standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, while Hoffman hovers above electrified water next to him, and a mysterious figure works around them. At the same time, Detectives Strahm and Perez (Scott Patterson and Athena Karkanis) attempt to follow Rigg's trail of bodies, and interrogate Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), as they draw the conclusion that Jigsaw may have had a second Apprentice.

If anyone hasn't watched vlogger Welshy's retrospective of the Saw series, I think he nailed it for this entry (sadly the series is incomplete, as Welshy left Channel Awesome). The movie has so much story that it seems to move at a frantic pace, with no real regard for the characters. Most notably, we never really get a sense of Rigg's emotional journey. After each of his tests are completed we cut away, not giving him time to reflect on the “lesson” he's supposed to be learning. Or, if he is reflecting, we don't see it.

There are two major pay-offs for all these plotlines. The first is the reveal that Rigg's test was designed to punish him for refusing to “let go.” Matthews' trap went off when Rigg arrived in less than ninety minutes, killing Matthews because Rigg charged in trying to be a hero. The second is that Hoffman is Jigsaw's second Apprentice (in a stroke of genius, his trap looked scary, but would be unlikely to actually kill him when he's ungrounded). The mysterious individual holding them was actually a patsy named Art Blank (Justin Louis), trapped by a device strapped to his back designed to kill him if he disobeys orders, much like Zep from the first film.

Starting with this film it becomes increasingly difficult to tell just which traps were set up by which Jigsaws. The events of these final films happen in close proximity, so there's no real reason to assume that Amanda didn't set them up on John's orders before dying. In fact, the final moments of this film establish most of it's plot as happening simultaneously with Saw III, meaning John and Amanda are still alive. Or, Hoffman might be setting them up. The Final Chapter complicates this matter further, but I'll get to that in time.

During the interview scenes with Jill we get a number of flashback to John's history. It's true these were clearly written to keep Tobin Bell in the franchise, but they still fit very well with the story. It really is quite amazing how much of a coherent narrative the writers were able to produce for the franchise while writing by the seat of their pants. They show us John's descent into madness, and the tragic events that led up to it. Tobin Bell is still, by far, the best actor in this entire franchise. If he was in a drama rather than a horror movie there's a very real possibility his performance would have merited Oscar consideration.

I should probably also comment on Hoffman, even if it's later films that establish his history and motivations. I like him a lot as a villain. While certainly he's no John Kramer, even with his reveal as the villain coming at the end of this film I can already tell that he's a cunning schemer. He's neither as honorable as Jigsaw, nor as demented as Amanda.

I also want to comment on Angus Macfayden's return as Jeff. It was one of the biggest “Screw You”s I've ever seen to the audience. Because the two films happen mostly in parallel, Strahm ends up walking in on and shooting him in a scene that takes place immediately after the events of Saw III. I know this franchise was largely written on-the-fly, and fan reactions were a major influence, so I'm guessing fans didn't like the character much, and he was dispatched casually.

It's still a cop-out, though. The ending of Saw III clearly set up a story of Jeff desperately trying to save his daughter in time. Instead, she's saved by Hoffman in a single scene in the next movie (yeah, spoiler, but whatever). For God's sake, if your set-up doesn't please your audience, make it up in the pay-off. Don't just throw out a major sub-plot after making it so critical to the cliffhanger of the previous movie!

Saw IV is a film I recommend as part of a marathon. Rigg has the only story-line that feels remotely complete without the previous or following movies, and that story in and of itself doesn't hold a candle to the previous three films, feeling a level of tension I'd more associate with a television episode than a film the audience waited a year for. It's far from terrible, but the series is on the downslide.