SAW 3D

Bobby Dagen is one of the survivors of the Enigmista's traps and is now making a fortune thanks to a rehabilitation program for all the survivors of the killer known as Saw. However, Bobby is kidnapped and locked inside a maze with the goal of saving some lives until he reaches the room where his wife is held. Meanwhile, Hoffman, after escaping the trap that Jill set for him at the request of her late husband, is doing everything he can to reach the woman and take revenge. Jill, however, is under police custody, particularly by Detective Gibson. After seven years of intense activity and box office success, the now legendary saga of "Saw" has decided to close its doors and does so with a grand finale in 3D. A seventh film that aims, right from the title, to put an end to the deeds of John Kramer and his disciples, a clarifying chapter, therefore, that effectively resolves many knots while leaving some inevitably still well anchored to the comb. Let's start by saying that Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, the screenwriters of most of the saga and of this seventh installment, decided to play it safe and built "Saw 3D" on the already tested template of the previous episodes. In particular, the foundational episode for the structure of this film is the third, which, after all, was already revisited in the sixth film and to some extent in the fourth. We will therefore have a main character/victim inserted into an obstacle course and continuously faced with choices that involve the death or salvation of someone connected to him, up to the final test that involves dealing with his own past and, therefore, with the reason that led him to that situation. The game, although now repetitive, still works for the variety of traps and for the inevitable final twist that in this case also turns out to be spot on. Paradoxically, what seems to work less is what happens outside, the serial events that connect this film to the previous ones. Everything seems quite predictable, the plot twists that characterize this seventh film turn out to be rather telegraphed, and the way Hoffman, Jill, and company move seems to exclude the real involvement of the authorities: everyone commits crimes undisturbed without anyone noticing, despite the entire city being mobilized for what is happening. For the first time in the "Saw" saga, we see a trap in broad daylight, and what's more, installed in a public place, a square, and thrown to a public of casual spectators. The idea is to make the Enigmista's work public, to legitimize it and turn it into a pop phenomenon that goes beyond the dark and oppressive atmosphere of the previous episodes. John Kramer is a generalist TV character, a mass phenomenon whose face populates posthumous talk shows, in-depth programs, and books. There are those who make money and success thanks to the work of Saw, and one of these is Bobby Dagen, a survivor and guru of salvation. Bobby has written a book with over 1 million copies and is in "care" of many faces known to the viewer (including Greg Bryk from "Saw V" and Tanedra Howard and Shauna McDonald from "Saw VI"); but is Bobby really capable of saving lives? Or are his just talk to make money and fame? The question that moves the game this time seems more banal than usual (at least after the clever critique of the health insurance world in "Saw VI"), but the story is much more complicated than it may seem, and although we are not at the level of the previous chapter, we can still be satisfied. Then there is the "traps" factor that can delight gore enthusiasts because the further we go, the more the creators of "Saw" seem to let their creativity run wild. Some traps will seem simply ugly and indebted to the Konami video game dedicated to the Enigmista (see the hanged man), others banal (the tubes directed at the face), but then there are others that leave a sadistic grin on the viewer's face, and I refer to the trap in the square with rotating blades, the one with the key in the throat hooked to the fishing line, the always present jaw trap, and especially that gore masterpiece featuring Chester Bennington, the vocalist of Linkin Park, literally glued to the seat of a car. Let's talk about the 3D, which in truth is not very exploited in this film. Every now and then there is some intestine or human limb that sprays towards the audience, and the immersive effect of depth seems little useful to a film like Saw, mostly shot in interiors. Let's say that "Saw 3D" does not have stereoscopy on its side, an extra element without which in reality nothing would have changed. As I said at the beginning, "Saw 3D" is above all the final chapter, so expect some dark points of the saga to find some light here, starting with the fate of Dr. Gordon, whom we have not seen since the first film. Not surprisingly, this seventh chapter begins right where the first one ended, showing us what the doctor did after leaving the bathroom of horrors. Let's say that everything in this film seems to fall into place, closing the various narrative arcs opened throughout the six films of the saga, even if obviously at Twisted Pictures they decided to leave a small door open to the possibility of a continuation, perhaps in a few years. Cast of usual familiar faces with Costas Mandylor (Hoffman) here angrier than usual, an incredibly sexy Betsy Russell (Jill Tuck), a Sean Patrick Flanery (Bobby Dagen) who eerily resembles Edward Norton in "Fight Club," and a revived (and limping) Cary Elwes who returns to play Dr. Gordon. Oh, I almost forgot, Tobin Bell is also there, whose character died four sequels ago, although this time he has fewer scenes than usual. "Saw" is "Saw," if you love the saga this final chapter cannot but leave you satisfied, between revelations, ingenious traps, and 3D... obviously if the deeds of the Enigmista had already tired you at the second chapter it is useless to say that this film is not for you. Make your choice.