“Discovering the object of the game *is* the object of the game.”
Daniel-The Game
I am not the biggest fan of the Saw franchise. I understand their appeal, but gore for the sake of gore doesn’t entice me. That said, I’ve watched every single film and enjoyed them more than I like to admit. But outside of the first film, I’ve never rewatched any of them.
Saw X won’t change my perspective or my potential viewing habits. I will admit the filmmaking in Saw X is probably the best since the first film. Director Kevin Greutert’s visual style feels like it’s a natural fit for this series. Greurert’s previous Saw entries didn’t lack in this aspect either. It was the scripts that let him down. Saw X has the most robust script since the first film. Having competent writing makes a massive difference in quality.
Tobin Bell is back as Jigsaw/John Kramer and is giving his most nuanced performance in the role. The previous entries have asked for him to give varied amounts of effort. Bell does an excellent job this time out. He makes this movie work when it shouldn’t. His ability to make the audience empathize with the maniacal serial killer is astonishing.
Outside of Bell, no one really does anything noteworthy, but there aren’t any bad performances either. Everyone does what they always do in Saw films. They scream and yell and die. The traps are fun and unique, which is what people want from these movies. If it matters much, I did have to turn away twice.
Saw X is a decent horror film. It’s an excellent Saw film. Tobin Bell is doing character work here that should have been done after the first film. The idea that this occurs after the first film but before the third is laughable. I don’t understand why it took nine films to figure out we needed to hash out a character. There’s no world where I watch this film ever again, but I was entertained for about two hours.
Rating: 6.5/10
