clever, but not believable

Rating: 5/10 (2 March 2005)

First, I would like to say that this movie could've been one of the great movies of the thriller genre in the past decade. There are many strong points to this movie, most of which set it apart from the typical, crappy horror/thriller. It's a shame, though, that its problems distract from the movie too much to allow the movie to reach its full potential.
The cleverness of the screenplay is what strikes me as the most important strong point to this movie. The psychopath in question in Saw has a very unique method of dealing with his victims. His cleverness allows for nice little plot twists throughout the movie and always keeps the viewer guessing. You will find yourself fully engaged throughout the length of the movie, which is always good for a thriller. It's actually very disappointing to see the director ruin such a unique and fine screenplay.
The first problem that hit me with this movie is the acting. I wasn't convinced that the actors' feelings and emotions were genuine enough to make some of the actions and conjectures that they made throughout the movie.
The next and most important problem i found with this movie was that the psychopath and his motive did not seem believable to me. I always compare these types of movies with "Se7en", which i believe is the standard for modern thrillers. What makes "Se7en" so successful and gives it such replay value is the fact that Se7en had such an outrageous, yet believable antagonist. It is this type of antagonist that "Saw" lacks, and is what will kill its replay value for the future. For any good thriller, there should be a believable and genuine reason for the killer's actions. I was not convinced of "Saw"'s reasons for his killings, and this is the main reason for the low score.
This is definitely a movie worth seeing. It is a clever, smart movie that will be entertaining until the end. This isn't a movie, though, that I would buy on DVD, nor would it be a movie that I would be interested in seeing more than once.
5/10