He helped me

Rating: 3/10 (11 January 2006)

What do you say about a movie in which a serial killer is the moral center of the film? Here we have the cancer-ridden Jigsaw Killer, kidnapping weaklings and failures, and subjecting them to horrific mental and physical torture, in order to teach them the value of 'life'. Isn't that terrific? It's just like the story of Job, only better, because in Job we don't get to witness a pathetic drug addict carve open a live man's stomach and remove the key that will unlock the explosive device strapped to her head! And, like Job, she is now a better person! It's better than Sunday School! If only there were more Jigsaw Killers around, the world would be a better place and we would all be happy!
Saw is a mess. It's not particularly well shot, the acting is mediocre, and several jerky MTV-style camera moves and montages, accompanied by appropriately stupid speed-metal, strain one's patience to the breaking point. Almost every character is annoying, crazy, or selfish. Its one red herring makes no sense: the orderly initially has been shown to be empathetic, caring, and concerned, just the qualities that the Jigsaw Killer would likely appreciate in a person. So why does the Jigsaw Killer end up blackmailing him? Did he jaywalk? Bungee jump? Have unprotected sex? Give me a break.
In the terrifyingly brilliant Se7en, Saw's obvious model, the religious fanatic dealing out his own twisted brand of justice is obviously insane. Morgan Freeman, the decent cop, is the moral center of the film. In Se7en's shattering climax, Brad Pitt's choice of revenge over restraint is correctly seen as a moral failure, and the killer's posthumous triumph leaves the viewer feeling disgusted and defeated. On the other hand, in the stunning black comedy, Hannibal, the brilliant, cultured cannibal, Dr. Lector, who only eats "the rude", tempts the righteous, heroic Clarise Starling ("would you like me to...hurt them for you...Clarise?"), and fails. Again, the film's drama arises from the choice that a decent character is given between good and evil. Evil is appropriately seductive, because, if it were not, there would be no temptation, and no drama.
Saw has no such complexity. It appeals simplistically to the uninformed post-Christian self-righteousness of an audience that fails to see how complicit it is in its own degradation.
Pay attention, all you hipsters out there who are cheering this film on. More likely than not, you are the type of person that the Jigsaw Killer would like to chain up in his dank, green basement. You're next, and your cool tattoos and concern for the future of "the planet" won't save you...