"Saw"'s exercise in nihilism is extremely gratuitous

Rating: 5/10 (27 September 2014)

The great thing about "Saw III" is that if you skipped out on the first two outings, you will not be lost. The bad? There is not much to see here. I mean if you like your limbs twisted, ripped apart, and frozen, you could certainly do worse.
"Saw III" picks up from where "Saw II" ended. This time Amanda is Jigsaw's apprentice and matter is taken into her hands. To Amanda's dismay, Jigsaw's life is ticking away like his heart meter. This can only mean that Lynn, an elite neurosurgeon, will step up to the plate and get Jigsaw up and running. In the meantime, Jigsaw has implemented torturous traps, which Eric leads.
This sounds like a pretty convoluted and incoherent story line, but "Saw III" is really the former. Surprisingly, I found the plot to not meander, and I found it pretty consistent. Of course, the break-neck pacing and MTV-style jump cuts get tiring, but enough questions are answered to keep "Saw" fans satisfied. What is refreshing this time around is that there is more attention paid to the characters. We learn more about John (Jigsaw), Amanda, and even Eric. Now this is not some Shakespearean character study, but I give director Darren Lynn Bousman some credit.
This also seems like soap opera "Saw"- running a good two hours, as opposed to the standard 90 minutes of mayhem. This is John Kramer at his most personal. For gorehounds, there is plenty of gratuitous spill here. There are at least two traps that will make you vomit as much as John Kramer.
Yet, Bousman lowers the body count. This was a smart move because "Saw III" the script comes first, then the gore. Screenwriter Leigh Whannell definitely does not disappoint in those categories. While he minimizes the amount of dismemberment, he does not minimize it enough. When the film arrives at the "The Rack" trap, the violence becomes masturbatory. Masturbatory to the point of some traps being copouts. It seems like everyone is made to go through hell, even when they "won" or already underwent their missions.
What also does not work is complicating Eric's backstory. Too many people are involved, too many consequences for a particular incident, and etc. It seemed like Whannell wanted to make this the "Twin Towers" of Jigsawville. There is just so much "payment" and chaos, it does not come off as profound. It just comes across as misanthropic and utterly gratuitous.
What I did find refreshing is how different this film felt compared to "Saw II" and "Saw". "Saw II" was a remake of the first, but not as interesting. The exposition was so mind-numbingly dull, it was a chore to sit through. The traps made up for it, but we come to "Saw" for a decent plot line AND some traps. We do not just take the gravy and leave the mashed potatoes. In "Saw III", we get more exposition than the first, but it is more interesting and dynamic. The pieces really fit in a "jigsaw".
While it sounds like I admired "Saw III", which I did to an extent, it is something I will not see again. This is "CSI" level of entertainment, and it is nearly made on that budget. You will get some cool insight into the characters, the ending is pretty climactic (or should I say "anticlimactic"), and "oh yes, there will be blood" as Jigsaw promises. It just feels like too much. I would advise a rental if you really need to seek out Tobin Bell (Jigsaw)'s latest outing.