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Life & Arts

Watch what you eat before you see 'Saw'

by DANTE EGLIN
The Daily Cougar

If you're a fan of ultimate torture, stomach-churning gore and sadistic Rude Goldberg-esque death traps, Saw III offers up a feast in the third installment of the bloody suspense series.

Those whose palate craves superior acting performances and an intricate plot, however, will likely be left with the type of festering hunger that lingers long enough to regret the $8.50 theater entree cooked up by director Darren Lynn Bousman and screenwriter Leigh Whannell.

Once again, the infamous Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is in dire medical condition and has handed over the reigns of torture to his trusty apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith). 

Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) is recruited, or rather forced, to keep Jigsaw alive long enough for Jeff (Angus MacFadyen), a father stricken with grief over the death of his son, to complete a series of tests. 

While Jeff completes his moral journey to face his misgivings about his son's death, much detail (perhaps far too much) is focused on Jigsaw's medical state. After suffering an intense, bloody seizure, Lynn is forced to perform impromptu emergency surgery to keep him alive. The audience is treated to a combination of a power drill, a bone saw and exposed cerebral tissue.

As a wheezing, fading Jigsaw is limited to bedside morality lessons, faithful sidekick Amanda takes her seat as presiding judge and jury to the disgraced victims chosen for Jigsaw's personal tribunal, all of whom played roles in the death of Jeff's son. This changing-of-the-guard is essential to the storyline, but plays out to be the ultimate detractor of the film.

In her role as assistant to the precise, calculating Jigsaw, Amanda is unable to fully ascertain her mentor's approach to the judging of their corrupt prisoners. 

The central premise of the traps set in the first two films had been to test the limits of human will and astuteness. Every trap designed by Jigsaw, though intertwined with a gruesome side-consequence, offered a chance for survival, albeit a rather slim one. With Amanda at the reigns, it becomes obvious that the trial-by-jury has evolved into no more than simple executions, as all the victims have virtually no chance of survival.

As the significance of the traps is neutralized, importance is shifted to the transparent plot, with most of the storyline's turns obvious and apparent throughout his journey. 

Flashback sequences, which tarnished the sequel at times, serve to tie up several loose ends, such as the fate of Adam (Whannell) and detective Matthews (Donnie Walhberg) from the first two films and also highlight the massive planning and detail of Jigsaw's schemes.

Despite another solid, villainous display by Bell and an impressive performance by MacFayden, lackluster acting still haunts the series. The rushing of the movie by distributor Lionsgate mars the end result as well.

The film ends in an unexpected cliffhanger, but practical and genuine in regards to the massive planning and preparation of the Jigsaw killer. The same bitter, indignant feeling that results from such a cliffhanger is similar to the sentiment that festers throughout the majority of the film. The detailed traps and the "six degrees of separation" element that linked characters together in the first two films has been prostituted for an uncomplicated gore-fest that prevents Saw III from reaching its ultimate potential, designed in order to leave audiences with a wanton hunger to be played upon for Saw IV.

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