Posted by Saw X: 2023; Theatrically released Sept. 29, 2023 from Lionsgate.
Directed by Kevin Greutert. Written by Pete Goldfinger & Josh Solberg. Starring Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Steven Brand.
In its 19 years as a feature film series (add a few for the short), the Saw series has had its ups and downs, mostly downs as the series has progressed Saw V being our nadir but outside of Saw VI, no entry post III has been honestly good. While original creators James Wan and Leigh Whannel both have moved onto other ventures, the tenth entry is one the pair could be proud of. Saw X, in a likely surprise to everyone, is the best entry since the first two entries.
Saw X functions as a re-evaluation of the series in many ways, re-orienting it after losing itself along the way. As the series continued, the plotting, especially the police procedural, became increasingly convoluted (So many flashbacks), bogged down by needless drama and reveals. Add with traps that are so complex no team of Jigsaw and proteges could ever pull off, even with suspension of disbelief required for this sort of thing, and the franchise was in dire need of course correction. Spiral made an attempt at switching it up, but didn’t quite come together as more than a “same thing, slightly different focus”.
Saw X is a return to form, boiling down all the excess for a streamlined story and simpler (mostly) traps. Part of this re-evaluation is how the audience views series villain John Kramer, played by Tobin Bell. While he’s been ever-present (even after his character dies, um.. Spoilers for Saw III), his direct involvement has waxed and waned as needed. For Saw X, he’s front and center. (To answer the obvious question, this is set between the first and second films. Interestingly there is little attempt making it look like 2004, in props and how Bell looks. Just shrug and go with it).
This is his movie.
Tobin Bell has been the face of the franchise (maybe shared with Billy the Puppet) as mastermind Jigsaw. And as often happens in horror franchises, our antagonists become de facto protagonists via pop-culture seepage. Let’s face it, we watch later Nightmare on Elm Street films to see what creatively ironic kills Freddy will unleash. Saw X takes this idea and runs with it, outwardly transforming Kramer into the protagonist. That’s not to say his methods and actions are completely sane or justified – he’s fully over the line of ethics and decency, but yet we feel for him. Bell has long been a day-player, a character actor popping into every TV show for an episode. This series brough him to the forefront, allowing for many roles to show he’s been a great actor; and the 81-year-old’s performance in the tenth entry in a nasty horror series is his best. Really.
Since the first film, everything that happens has stemmed from John Kramer’s terminal brain cancer diagnosis. Essentially given a personal countdown for the end of his life, he uses his engineering and architecture skills to make lost people look at their own choices. In facing their own choices, along with sharp things aimed at their insides, they must fight hard to live (with a renewed sense of living) or die. He argues he gives people hope to live and be better people.
But what happens when that hope is removed?
Kramer is offered a miraculous cure, via an underground doctor and her clinic in Mexico (I do sigh to note the use of the “hazy brown Mexico filter”). Here, Kramer is given his own new lease on life and experiences a shining light of hope. Until it’s extinguished and replaced by a need for anger driven revenge. This shift in the storytelling in Saw X spends much of its 2-hour runtime as a medical drama before becoming the film many expect it to be. Many may be taken out by the long-set up, but it works to spend far more time with Kramer than before. As noted above, it gives more room for Bell to live in the character and show his skill. Both ends are really about finding the means of survival, albeit with very different methods.
It’s strange, while he is no way in the right for his actions, there is an understanding to them. John Kramer is given a pathos, putting the audience on his side for his righteous anger. People often reduce Saw to “empty, nasty torture porn.” Some of the entries do degrade to this – looking at you Saw V. But, Saw X is far from empty. The series is built on the backbone that the US healthcare system is broken and is a massive trap on its own (essentially the plot of Saw VI). John’s journey digs into this as much, and what American can’t relate to that? In addition, lip-served talks about the hypocrisy of his actions, and of how protege Amanda (Shawnee Smith, returning) might see things differently than John are turned into full discussions. There is a nice depth to the script, and a wonderful amount of humor as well. Dark, gallows humor. The folks behind me seemed to think this was unintentional, but I disagree. The final shot of the film should set to right if not aware by then.
I’ve spent a lot of words on why this entry works from a plot and character standpoint but it’s Saw so “how are the traps”, you ask. As nasty and bloody as ever, perhaps even more so. And mostly stripped down, due to the nature of the why and how of the situation. Mostly, there are questions as to “how the heck did this one get built?” a few times but not enough to completely break the belief suspenders one puts on. I can honestly say I winced in shock more in Saw X than in many of the others. It’s nasty and more showing on the bloody and gristle without feeling gratuitous.
Clearly a lot of thought was taken to make an outstanding entry, one that will please long time fans, and perhaps even general audiences. In the heyday of the Saw franchise, these came out yearly, showing the cracks of a quick turn around. Director Kevin Greuturt and writers Goldfinger & Stolberg stem from the later part of the yearly release. With the time and breathing room to work on the script and execution (heh), they shine far more than a decade and half ago. Saw X is wryly aware of the expectations to this point, and lives up to them with renewed energy.
Saw X survives its own trap unscathed, ready to bring a new sense of hope for further entities.
