Don't read this if you haven't seen the first two Saw movies.
Story-wise, I think Saw 3 is one of my favorites of the Saw movies. It is a chilling character story and it answers a lot of questions all while raising even more. It also has one of the greatest misdirects ever in a movie!
At the end of Saw 2, we learned that Amanda is Jigsaw's protegee. She helped him orchestrate not only the game from that movie, but she also helped him set up the game from the first one. This chapter explains a lot more about her involvement in the Jigsaw story. He wants her to carry on his life's work.
But we quickly learn that John Kramer (aka Jigsaw) is always testing people, even those we think he may trust.
Saw 3 starts by giving us more information about Detective Matthews from Saw 2. At the end of that movie we saw him chained to a pipe in that fateful bathroom. This movie starts right where #2 left off. From there we are taken to another Jigsaw crime scene being investigated by detectives. Kerry, the confirmed expert on Jigsaw, is called to the scene and she worries that it's Matthews who is still missing. After finding out that the victim isn't him, she begins to realize that this "game" doesn't match Jigsaw's others. Thus far, his games have been escapable - Amanda is proof of that. But this latest test was performed behind a door that had been welded shut. There was no way for the victim to escape even if he had passed the test.
We also meet a new character: Mark Hoffmann. His screen time is short here, but his importance to the story will be huge later.
Later, Kerry is at home reviewing the tape from this latest victim when she herself is abducted and put in a trap. She is... well, I better not ruin what happens to her...
The story shifts to the focus characters of this movie. We a meet a doctor named Lynn and a man named Jeff. We learn that Jeff is still mourning the death of his son who was killed by a drunk driver. Jeff's test is one of forgiveness because he will soon face a witness to the accident who ran instead of testifying. He will face the judge who only sentenced the drunk driver to 6 months. Finally, he will face the drunk driver himself. In all the cases, those people's lives are in his hands. Can he find a way to forgive them and save them from the horrible deaths?
During all of this, the doctor is assigned with keeping a VERY ill John Kramer (Jigsaw) alive during Jeff's game. She is fitted with a gruesome collar that will blow her head off if Jigsaw's heart monitor flat lines. Using only crude tools, she has to perform an operation on his skull to relieve pressure on the brain. This is one of the most realistic surgeries ever performed on film, hands down.
Amanda is in this one, too. As the movie progresses, she gets more unhinged. Jealousy and anger still rule her life as though she has learned nothing from Jigsaw's tests. She clearly loves him, but these bitter emotions still get the best of her. She is there to keep Lynn in check, but at the same time, it's as though Amanda needs to be kept in check, too.
All of this builds to a pretty amazing conclusion and another twist... Well, more a series of twists. One of them relates to the misdirect that I mentioned earlier.
For all the horrific torturing these movies depict, there is quite a story being told. I'm probably a sick man for loving these movies as much as I do, but I swear it's all about the story! Much like a guy flipping through a porn magazine for the articles. I SWEAR!
No comments:
Post a Comment