Lot's of blood and traps for those out hunting and, refreshingly, it meekly offers something a little more in the way of study.

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2009)

There is a common phrase throughout the third edition of the Saw series, namely: 'face your fears'; perhaps a sly nod to the audience themselves as they go through this ordeal of watching someone else go through a further ordeal - psychologically as well as physically. You have to hand it to the people that make this stuff; the marketing is disturbingly effective. Initially, we were 'dared' to see Saw and Saw II. Maybe we did, maybe we didn't. Now, we have 'face your fears' pasted over most walls and doors in the film as the beginning of a new 'test' is established to about to happen and we inhale, grab hold of something and get ready for the next gross-out/squirm-in-your-seat moment. They've roped us in via the dare to see the first two, now we cannot help ourselves.
The third Saw film was not the disaster I was expecting, in fact it actually attempts to flesh out a character and, for the first time, presents us with a delicate protagonist at the film's core who is given the chance to essentially 'play God' with some previously set up traps. What the film wants us to think he undergoes in the long run is a transformation from vengeful, depressed individual to a man forced to come to terms with his emotions; forced to forgive those responsible for his prior feelings and undergo some sort of journey of redemption. But that's not what anyone is watching a Saw film for, that's for sure. The ideas are there, and they're developed in a certain regard but the film is clearly more interested in the blood; the gore and these traps that the screenwriters and producers, in some manner or another, manage to dream up.
The man undergoing the ordeal is Jeff (Macfadyen), a man whose son was killed in a hit and run accident in which the 'guilty' parties involved were the driver himself, whom got a very short jail sentence; the judge that gave him that short sentence; the onlookers that saw the incident but ran off and the doctors that couldn't actually save the boy. Each of them are rendered helpless in a series of audacious traps that tap into: medieval torture; the sensation of drowning; the sensation of freezing to death as well as out and out decisions based on whether you can find it within yourself to execute a man. Some are more gruesome than others, and after each trap before venturing into the next, Jeff seems to remove a layer of clothing such as a jacket or a cover or something; perhaps a shedding of a persona or a 'skin' as the film progresses.
But again, no one's come to notice those sorts of things. The film's immediate beginning sees a hapless individual hooked up to several chains, but a preceding scene is set in the dungeon he is trapped as the police investigate several dismembered pieces of flesh following a small explosion. The cutting to the chained up prisoner trying to escape is a futile exercise as we already know what's to come and this is just an excuse to show us some of the material that gives Saw its reputation as this senseless; mindless passage of traps, horror and blood. Following this, a female law enforcer is snatched for merely doing her job and is 'punished' for love of her work through a device linked to her ribcage – it's as nasty as it sounds, but it's completely unnecessary.
Mercifully, and I do mean mercifully, the film ditches this short passage of play and actually gives us a narrative plus protagonist to latch onto, he being Jeff and the series of scenarios he finds himself in. On a strand happening parallel to Jeff's crusade, Jigsaw (Bell) himself must rely on assistant Amanda (Smith) and nurse Lynn Denlon (Soomekh) to see him through some gut-wrenching scenes of brain surgery as Lynn is charged with performing a life saving operation – the catch is if he dies, an explosive collar attached to Lynn's neck will go off thus killing her.
As a lead character, it's easy to connect with Jeff. He's given a meek amount of pre-crusade build-up as we see him dejected and vulnerable in his suburban house, dressed in some pyjamas. It's all rather manipulative, but in Jeff we have a very specific reason to engage in the text and will someone through the film rather than just sit back and observe people we don't really know that well, quite possibly getting cut up. Saw III will no doubt appeal to those that are fans of the franchise; much in the same way Episode Three of the Star Wars franchise might or recent prequel Hannibal Rising might to fans of those respective franchises. This is due to said films' attempts at the deconstructing of the villain and Saw III looks to further Jigsaw's deconstruction that began in Saw II. It attempts to humanise its chief antagonist – the reason so many nasty things happen to so many 'bad' people. In this regard, it succeeds but like mentioned examples, only on a very, very basic level.
I think it would be too harsh to say Saw III 'masquarades' as a study of morality, redemption and forgiveness, but it is this sort of study 'dressed up' around a lot of gore and dismemberment. Fanatics will enjoy the traps and the horror of it all; those such as myself whom view it with a neutral eye might get a kick out of the study plus twists and those specifically out to hate it won't take to it at all. But the most interesting thing about the film, for me, was that amidst all this gore and all this blood, the most distressing scene involves an oven, some raw emotion and a few stuffed toys combining to make something that's a bit gruesome for very different reasons.