Relentlessly Brutal, Surprisingly Good Installment.

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2006)

I went in seeing "Saw III" with fairly low expectations, because from what I'd seen advertised, this movie didn't look like it was going to be too great. Luckily, I was really surprised. This installment centers on Lynn (Bahar Soomekh, who starred in "Crash"), a doctor who finds herself awaking to a horrifying situation. Turns out that Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who is near death from a metastasized brain tumor, has chosen her to operate on him. With an elaborate device clamped on her neck (that will explode once Jigsaw's heart rate bottoms out), she is forced to perform a surgery on him to help save his life, with his assistant/previous victim, Amanda (Shawnee Smith) present. Meanwhile, another man finds himself a part of one of Jigsaw's horrible games, but this time it's up to him to save the lives of others who previously wronged him.
I enjoyed the first "Saw" film greatly, and also thought "Saw II", while a little below-expectations, was still a very good horror film. But man, this one was really great, better than the previous sequel if you ask me. The plot is cleverly woven together to leave the viewer wondering throughout the whole movie, but it keeps your attention the whole way, and manages to be enthralling and consistently interesting. The character development was excellent in this film, something that I think the previous sequel lacked. The characters were sympathetic, and a lot of time was spent on their own psychological torment that tied in with the horrible torture that was occurring in front of their eyes. Just for that, I think this film easily surpassed "Saw II". The directing was well done, and is very similar to how the previous movies were shot - lots of dark and light colors, and damp, rusty atmospheres.
The violence this time around is just about as nasty as you're gonna get in an R-rated movie, those who have a weak stomach are advised to avoid this film at all costs, I was questioning whether or not the limits were pushed a little too much myself. But there is a good story to be found underneath the gore, so I think the gratuitousness is forgivable. The only thing that annoyed me about this movie was a character's decision near the end of the film - I won't give it away, but man, I saw really frustrated! Oh well, the rest of this film made up for that minor annoyance.
All in all, "Saw III" is the best sequel of this series, in my opinion at least. It was clever, unpredictable, well-acted and written, and relentlessly disturbing. For fans of this series and other relentless horror flicks, "Saw III" is definitely a must see. 9/10.