overrated

Rating: 4/10 (31 July 2005)

Spoiler alert.
I really hated this movie. And it shocks me that I am one of only a few.
To me, the film was heavily influenced by several 90s thrillers and slasher films ("Se7en", especially) and the story basically relied on old ideas and shock value. The violence was disgusting and often ridiculous, and I sort of feel like the people that did this movie thought they had to make it really gross to be scary.
Most of the scenes seemed as though they were trying to just scare the bajeezus out of the viewer without creating any sort of suspense or fear. For example, a woman has to dig around in the stomach of her drugged-up friend so her head doesn't explode. Why?? What the hell is the point of that? It's just stupid.
And in the final scene, why did the guy have to saw through his foot?! I mean, c'mon. There were ways around that. He just seemed to snap, and suddenly the fact that the key to his shackle was just a few feet away was irrelevant.
Okay, I admit that the cinematography was sort of cool...
But Cary Ewles? Good god. He was great in "The Princess Bride", "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", and as the villain in a variety of family and action films. But in "Saw" he was truly awful. I think my local newspaper stated it best in a caption under a photo of Elwes in "Saw": 'Mommy, please make the bad actor go away'.
In conclusion, "Saw" was an interesting concept that was executed horribly. But I'm probably just crazy, because everyone else in the world seems to love it.