Wicked and gruesome entertainment! Almost as good as the original

Rating: Null/10 (17 October 2009)

The Saw franchise gets so much hate. The films get hate for being 'torture porn', and while I liked it a lot, if I had to label any film that, it would be Saw III. The opening scenes, the one involving Detective Matthews, the one with the man in chains, and the one with Kerry's final scene, are all probably the most disgusting, gruesome, disturbing scenes ever in a horror film. I was flinching so much, and maybe the strong opening is what got a lot of critics mad, and from then on, they decided not to like it. I actually had that same attitude. While Saw was disturbing, but did not show much, and the sequel more gruesome, none of them ever came close to the torture scenes in Saw III, and so I was prepared to hate it. But as the film went on, I noticed how different it was from Saw II. I loved the mystery and tension in the original, and while Saw III does not compare, I actually think it comes close to being just as good. Saw III is actually a much better film than Saw II, which I would never have imagined. Saw II goes the formulaic way of horror films, with a group of people trapped in a scary house, each getting killed one by one. Saw III is not like this. It revolves around two stories, and giving us more information on Jigsaw and how Amanda came to be his assistant. It is all very interesting, and while I thought Bahar Soomekh was the weakest, I found Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell are very strong actors. They completely made these characters be what they are, and while we had already seen Tobin Bell's great acting in Saw II, we had not seen Smith this important before. She really creates a very compelling and scary character. Her facial expressions, her moods, she gives one heck of a performance, and good for her! Towards the end, the film does become more messy, but I loved it all! The signature twist did not disappoint, although we can hardly be shocked or surprised as much as in the original Saw because we know every time there is a Saw film, there will be a twist at the end. But props to this film, I can see the reason many critics hate it is because of the gruesome and bloody torture scenes, but the film does have central themes about human nature that doesn't make it a brainless horror film. Saw III is actually better than Saw II, and almost as good as the original! Now, I have to see the next installments!