Disjointed Jigsaw

Rating: 5/10 (17 July 2012)

If it's been awhile, you need to review the events of "Saw II" (2005) before starting on this one. This will help explain the prologue, which is really only a tidying up of a teased sequel starring Donnie Wahlberg (as Eric Matthews) that does not really happen here. Next, "Jigsaw has disappeared. Along with his new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard," according to the home video sleeve scriber...
This "Saw" does not have the earlier films' structure. We begin with a series of violent torture sequences that seem to have no connection. The do become connected, but after you care. As usual for the series, the gore is (or should be considered) X-rated. The story would have worked better if one suspenseful story strand had framed the film and provided a foundation, with the rest providing pieces to the overall puzzle. It would have been interesting if the contest between Tobin Bell (as John "Jigsaw" Kramer) and Ms. Soomekh provided the foundational story, with Mr. Macfadyen's quest leading up to the climax and final revelations.
***** Saw III (10/26/06) Darren Lynn Bousman ~ Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh