Sunday, October 25, 2009

Two Many Saw Films Doesn't Make This One The Charmer

Once again Hollywood, with little or no originality left has brought out the retread machine and released another one in what appears to be a long line of stupid unnecessary movies. "Saw VI" is just another excuse for the filmmakers to try to outdo the last movie, here they fail miserable. Once again we get the story mainly told in a flip flop between present, past and flashback. This wasn't good in any of the first five so why do they think it will be better here?

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is finally dead, his wife, Jill (Betsy Russell) picked up a mysterious box and another test is running, all this before the opening credits are flashed across the screen. FBI Special Agent Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) is dead, in what is a very uniquely cool way, and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy, or will he, Jigsaw has claimed that every one must be tested. When Det. Hoffman gets back to the police station he finds out that Agent Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis) is still alive, and back working the jigsaw case. When she and Dan Erickson (Mark Rolston) find a tape at the scene of a new jigsaw crime they tell Det. Hoffman that they are having it worked on to determine the real voice. Hoffman knowing it is his voice on the tape has to deal with these two individuals quickly, and he does.

All this time we are looking in on another person who is dealing with his test, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge) is an insurance agent dealing with a law suit, we also find out that he was Johns agent as well, one who turned down John's request for payment on a new cancer treatment. He is told via the old grainy television tape that he will have four tests to beat, the first is him against an older man who is the janitor (Gerry Mendicino) in the building where William's office is located. Each test that William beats he will get a key that will unlock one of the four explosive devices on his body. After besting the first test William is freed from the device he was trapped in, following the clues painted on the wall William comes across another person he knows all too well, William must help her cross a room full of hot steam pipes, the only way he can do this is to turn the steam off so she can walk across the open pipes, but when he does this the pipe next to the control valve opens and William is burnt by the steam. Getting to the end of the walkway William finds out the key to open the door has been surgically implanted in his body, he now must defend himself. This test ends in William's favor and he gets the second key.

The test for the third key includes all six of the employees that William has working to find flaws in peoples insurance claims, they are handcuffed to what looks like a spinning amusement ride. William is told he can save only two of them and while doing so he will lose something in the process, the group of six fight amongst themselves offering William everything under the sun to save them, the two he does save earns him the third key. During this test we meet Tara (Shauna MacDonald) and Brent (Devon Bostick) they re in a cell and in the cell is a vat that contains acid, in another cage we see Pamela Jenkins (Samantha Lemole) she is Williams sister. Tara and Brent are the family of the man who died when his claim was denied by William's company.

Unlocking all his shackles, and making it to the final room, William finds himself between the cell that holds Pamela and the cell that holds Tara and Brent, Tara and Brent decide William's fate, Tara can't kill him but Brent is so mad at William he has no problem pulling the lever. All of this is rolled out in between flashbacks of John (Jigsaw) talking to his wife, setting up tests and grabbing the new people. Jill opens the box with six envelopes in it but yet only gives Det. Hoffman five, this is not done cleverly it is shown several times, so when the final test is done we are not surprised it is Jill testing Det. Hoffman. Putting him into a contraption that he knows how to unlock and best was silly, if John knew Hoffman was going to be tested why not save a new device just for him.

These movies will continue to come out, every year until people wake up and see that it is the same retread over and over, we meet new people in the next story arc that as supposedly helping Jigsaw all along, while just in the previous movie they went out of their way to make it look like he was working alone. Scripts can be manipulated to do anything and the script writers of these saw movies have no moral fiber to speak of. Or money talks loud in Hollywood.

I give Saw 6 a 1 and on my avoidance scale I give it a 2 this is the type of movie where if you have seen any of the first five then you have seen this one, nothing new or creative here, just one trap to out do the previous one. If this is your type of movie, well I'm sure you are eagerly awaiting the seventh one, I'm sure it has already been green lighted. Again Hollywood lacks creativity and this is what we get year after year.

Saw VI is rated R for Sequences of Grisly Bloody Violence and Torture and Language
Running time is 1 hr. 31 mins.

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