Intrigueing premise falls short

Rating: 3/10 (15 March 2005)

While I found "Open Water" and "The Blair Witch Project" very effective in what they both wanted to do I definitely didn't think the same with this film. Instead, I came away thinking that these young filmmakers were just trying to cash in with a gimmicky concept aimed at mostly young film viewers. Story starts out with two men waking up in the bathroom of an abandoned building and they're both chained to pipes on opposite sides of each other. Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and a photographer named Adam (Leigh Whannell) are the two men and in between them is a body with a tape recorder and a gun and as they talk with each other they figure out who is probably behind this.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** It dawns on Gordon that they are victims of the Jigsaw Killer who kidnaps his victims and puts them in some horrible predicament with the weird notion that they will appreciate life better if they survive and with these two they find cassettes in their pockets with a message about what they must do and Gordon must kill Adam by 6 o'clock or his wife and daughter will be killed. They are also given saws in which they are to cut their feet off if they want to get out and it becomes a race against time as Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) starts to close in on the identity of the Jigsaw Killer.
Director James Wan and screenwriter/actor Whannell made this film in about 18 days with more than 90% of the principle photography shot in one building with several sets built for the different scenes. I do give Wan lots of credit for directing this because parts of this actually work in terms of being a horror/serial killer genre film but the script throws so much into the mix that eventually it loses steam. If the script had stuck with the basic premise of "saw your foot off and you live" I think this would have worked so much better but unfortunately screenwriter Whannell gives viewers more twists and turns than a game of Clue. There are about three things I found distracting and the first are the scenes with the film sped up with choppy editing that's just annoying and dizzying to watch. Secondly, Glover is a natural to play a cop but his character consistently fails in whatever he's trying to do. There was maybe two moments when he's chasing the killer and could have shot him in the leg (or worse) to stop him but he keeps missing and gets his ass kicked. Thirdly, the script goes off track with all the games that Elwes and Whannell are supposed to figure out like "find the X" and the ending that ultimately sets itself up for a sequel. The Achilles heel for this film is it's far-fetched visions of grandeur and since the makers are in the process of producing a sequel I hope they come to the realization that a little simplicity goes a long way.