Great premise but it lacks a strong story and script to make it a great thriller.

Rating: 5/10 (17 October 2004)

I had a chance to see this movie before it is released in US. I have to first start off by rating this movie five stars out of ten. I would have love to given it a higher score but the story, script, and acting did not live up to the movie's great premise.
The premise of the movie is about two male characters who awake to find themselves chained in one leg to a plumbing pipe in a large locked room. Both are on opposite sides of the room and cannot reach each other. They are given clues to follow by a serial killer in order to escape imprisonment.
The story and dialogue leaves one unsatisfied due to holes in the plot and acting in the movie. You could tell that SAW takes some of its inspiration from the great thriller SEVEN from the style of the movie as well as the ending but unlike SEVEN, this movie does not have strong character development to get one into the mind of the serial killer. The movie instead focuses mostly on the killer's acts until the very end , when you finally discover the reason behind these killings but instead of evoking sympathy or hatred toward the killer, you are left with a feeling of "so what" or "is that it?"
My next criticism is the characters and the actors who played it. I felt there were too many characters in this movie. The writers should have concentrated primarily on those few characters so that the audience can have more time to relate to them and feel some sort of connection with them. I also thought certain actors should not have played that specific role because they do not fit that part. I won't name that person because I have been told by a studio friend that some studio executives do read some of these posting and I like that actor and would like to see that person in future movies but just not in a thriller. Danny Glover plays a police officer in this movie but again, I felt nothing for this person and it is not due to his acting because Glover gave a solid performance except the story and dialogue was just too weak for even Glover to overcome.
Overall, a decent movie with great potential but failed in story development, lackluster dialogue, and mediocre casting. That being said, it is a good attempt for the Australian film grads Wan and Whannell.