Take the very good with the kind of bad

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2006)

Saw sets off with a very interesting premise and from there grows to a very intense thriller that will keep you glued to the screen. The gritty aesthetic of the film sets in in the first shot and keeps up throughout the entire film, placing you in a world that is uncomfortable and unsettling. The well written plot moves along at a good pace, keeping you interested and the inevitable twist works well.
The film is not without its flaws, however. My biggest gripe with this movie is that the camera work is simply too fancy in several places, particularly the flashbacks (of which there are many in the first act of the film.) Tricks like fast motion and circular camera tracking belong in MTV music videos and not in psychological thrillers. The acting is also not fantastic. Neither of the two main characters are all that likable and at the start of the film the actors playing them seemed to be unsure of which direction to take them. However, by the end of the film when the real intense stuff kicks in the performances are cranked up and improve a great deal.
Saw is definitely worth seeing. It is an often grisly, always unsettling and carefully made thriller that packs some punch and is, most importantly, very entertaining.