Sawed Through the Formulas!

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2015)

Saw (2004): Dir: James Wan / Cast: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Shawnee Smith: Two males awaken in a darken room each with an ankle chained to a pipe. They are equipped with a tape, which they must listen to in the tape recorder in the hand of the corpse laying in the centre of the room. Why are they there? The plot regards a psychopathic madman who kidnaps victims and teaches them the value of life through graphic games of torture. Cary Elwes plays a surgeon who neglects his family and is a suspect to a crime. Leigh Whannell plays a photographer linked to Elwes. Elwes is instructed to kill Whannell or his wife and daughter will die as a result. How this plays out will ultimately portray Elwes as one whose limits can surpass extreme pain, and Whannell left with darkened regret. Danny Glover plays a cop obsessed with solving the case after his partner was killed. This obsession leads to results and fatal consequences. Monica Potter plays Elwes's wife who uses brains to gain freedom and a mother's will to fight back. Shawnee Smith plays a victim who had escaped a trap thus spotlighted in hopes of getting into the psyche of the killer. Directed by James Wan with graphic violence yet clever writing. Title describes the pondering even with hacksaws at the disclosure of both victims. It regards how we often never appreciate life's blessings. Score: 8 / 10