Saw

Title: Saw
Director: James Wan
Cast: Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter
Year: 2004
MPAA: Rated R for strong grisly violence and language
Date of Review: February 17, 2005


James Wan's "Saw" was perhaps one of the most eagerly awaited movies of last year after receiving critical acclaim at the Sundance film festival. Claiming to be "Se7en" for the new millennium, the film tells a similar story of a deranged killer who chooses victims that display a lack of humility for what they have been given in life. Such victims include a doctor who is having an affair, and a man who allegedly attempted suicide to get attention. The twist that makes the film's premise so interesting, though, is that instead of simply killing or torturing his victims with his own hands, the killer finds ways for them to kill themselves. Unfortunately, this intriguing plot is spoiled by a horrible script, the worst acting this side of "Spice World", and way too many quick cuts and instances of MTV style editing.

Cary Elwes, famous for his role as the charming prince in "The Princess Bride", plays the role of the adulterous doctor who wakes up chained to a pipe in a small white room filled with septic pipes and various janitorial supplies. Across from him is another man named Adam (played by rookie actor Leigh Whannel), who is also chained to a pipe, and in the center of the room is a third man, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. From there, the doctor must decide if he has the guts to kill Adam or saw off his own foot in order to survive the killer's plan and save his family.

While all of the setwork, make-up and contraption designs are quite good, the movie is filmed with the competence of an episode of "Judge Judy". It doesn't help that Cary Elwes has a smirk on his face through the entire film, and seems to be trying to refrain from laughing, even while supposedly devastated by the revelation that his family is being held captive.

Regardless of the horrible acting and poor scriptwork, which seem to be almost required in today's horror films, "Saw" suffers from taking an original idea and turning it into a by-the-numbers slasher. Danny Glover plays an ex-cop who was let go from the force after having a previous encounter with the killer, and has since become obsessed with discovering his true identity and stopping the killing. The movie is filled with convenient instances of people showing up at just the right moment, and coincidence after coincidence until even the coincidences become predictable. By the time the end twist rolls around, you're already so fed up with all the twists of plot that it's really not that shocking...or perhaps it's just hard to care by that point.

By the end of the movie, we're left asking questions: what was the killer's motive? How has no one caught him yet? And why wasn't the movie given the budget and effort that it deserved? Supposedly, according the James Wan, the film was originally over two hours long, but had to be trimmed down to barely an hour and forty minutes so as to receive an R rating. Wan himself stated that so much plot was cut that the effect he was going for was lost. Hopefully an unrated version of the film will be released at a later date, but as of now, "Saw" is a typical serial killer flick with a premise that really could have been the next "Se7en", but fell short with its execution.

5/10