Another disappointment to add to the heap of modern "horror"

Rating: 4/10 (6 March 2005)

SAW looks great. The filmmakers went to great lengths to create a seedy, grindhouse look for their movie and they have succeeded admirably. There are some genuinely creepy moments, and a couple of nice surprises along the way. And there's also a terrific ending, which briefly makes the movie seem much better than it really was.
Unfortunately, it seems that they spent so much time making their movie look the part, they forgot three key ingredients: direction, a script and acting. The production design and cinematography are the real stars here, and everything else takes a back seat.
Let's start with the awful screenplay. Leigh Whannel's screen-writing skills are almost as bad as his acting ability. You sit and watch one good idea wasted after another. In an attempt to add (unecessary) twists and turns in the story, Whannel ruins golden opportunities for suspense and shocks. (SPOILER) The "jaw device" scene is totally ruined by the fact that we know the victim survived her encounter. No suspense is created, because we know she'll get out of it, and her cutting into a live person to retrieve the key to the device isn't shocking or horrific, because we know nothing about the other victim. He's just some guy.
Most of the dialog between Cary Elwes and Whannel is dreadful. How can you get wrapped up in a situation if you don't believe the characters? "Who are you?" Elwes asks. Whannel manically answers "Mr. Pretty F***ing Confused, nice to meet you!" Give me a break, please? Can't people simply talk anymore? Does every line of dialog have to be a one-liner?
Elwes has received much criticism for his performance, which is odd, as he delivers one of the stronger performances in the movie. Whannel flounders uncomfortably, giving Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee a run for their money in the category of people who should NEVER appear in their own movies. The normally reliable Danny Glover turns in perhaps the worst performance of his career.
The direction is another problem. This movie has none. It just jerks from one scene to another, with no rhyme or reason, almost as though director James Wan believes that sloppy storytelling and disruptive editing will make the movie more gritty and surreal. It doesn't do anything except make it look as though Wan doesn't know what to do. The movie doesn't even really have any scenes, but a series of set-pieces linked together by the most rudimentary dialog and plot contrivances Whannel to muster.
As I said before, the ending is great. I did not see it coming and I admire being caught off guard. And I enjoyed SAW more than many other so-called horror movies I've seen in recent years. But filmmakers like Wan and Whannel have to learn that if they intend to stand on the shoulders of giants such as Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and David Fincher, they have to do more than simply try to emulate their respective styles. These filmmakers' movies had more going for them than good set design, claustrophobic photography and gruesome special effects.
SAW has ONLY those things. And that's not enough.