“Saw X” was released Sept. 29 to both commercial and, more unusual for the franchise, critical acclaim, reaching a critic score of 82% and an audience score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also sits at 7.1/10 on IMDB, making it the second highest rated film in the franchise, just behind the original that sits at a 7.6/10. I absolutely loved the movie and think that it is by far the best film in the entire series, but the film does have its fair share of shortcomings that hold it back from its full potential.
The first glaring issue is the pacing. The film is a bit of a slow burn which helps add suspense, but there are still unnecessary moments that sometimes kill the momentum.
Additionally, there’s an unusually long time in between trap scenes at some points. After the opening trap, we don’t really see any other action until the second act, and I found this to be a bit frustrating.
On the other hand, the ending feels somewhat rushed and mildly unsatisfying. It fails to give the audience a clear feeling of closure because it leaves one very important loose end untied.
The script could have used some tweaks. There are moments in the film that just make the actors feel stinted and awkward. The writing could also be predictable and that ruined a couple tense moments.
Despite having a relatively low budget, most of the practical effects were good, outside of one or two notable exceptions. The real issue was the CGI effects. They are used sparingly throughout the film, but when they are used, they were extremely obvious and didn’t look great.
There is an issue that isn’t really anyone’s fault but is still annoying. This movie falls somewhere between “Saw II” and “Saw III” on the timeline, which means that we already know who is going to survive because we see both characters later in the series.
Despite all this, I still think the movie is incredible. It especially stands out compared to the meandering and pointless mess that was the nineth entry, “Spiral.” In fact, “Saw X” goes out of its way to distance itself from that movie as much as possible.
One positive change is that Tobin Bell is back to reprise his role as the iconic Ji- saw. Bell being left out of “Spiral” wasn’t the sole reason that movie was terrible, but it certainly didn’t help the already dull experience.
“Saw X” doesn’t reference “Spiral” in any real way. This makes sense, but it does show just how much they are trying to course correct after their previous critical flop. While I did enjoy these changes, it does make me nervous for the franchise’s future.
Tobin Bell is 81 years old, so eventually they are going to need to take a step forward without him, which is what “Spiral” was trying to do. It just so happened that the step forward that “Spiral” took was off a cliff and into a pit of irrelevancy. That doesn’t mean “Spiral” didn’t have any good ideas, they were just executed poorly. It even left on a cliffhanger which means that they have a place to jump off from in the future, but due to its poor reception who knows what they’ll do. Disregarding that, “Saw X” just works on so many levels. One major thing I liked about it was just how accessible it is. If you have never seen a “Saw” film before, this is a good place to start. While it would help you to know a little bit about the lore before watching it, I think most people won’t find it too hard to figure out what’s going on.
Besides just bringing back Tobin Bell, they also brought back another important feature that was almost entirely missing in “Spiral”: suspense! This is without a doubt one of the best thrillers I’ve seen in a while. Though I wouldn’t say that it’s a particularly scary movie, I was tensing up in all sorts of ways during some of the scenes. This is mostly due to the simple yet clever traps that had me on the edge of my seat.
There were some outstanding performances, most notably Amanda Young’s character, played by Shawnee Smith. Her snarky and playful attitude in some of the scenes contrasted with her determined and strong demeanor in other scenes which added a significant amount depth to her performance.
The movie also worked to make Jigsaw a sympathetic anti-hero again. They made him the main protagonist for the first time which helped add nuance and complexity to his character. Moreover, it reaffirmed his philosophy of “I don’t kill people; I give them a choice” which “rehabilitates” people in a sort of baptism by fire.
After “Saw III,” the series devolved into a collection of extremely violent hypothetical scenarios, haphazardly tied together with a goofy crime thriller plot. Theoretically, every person that plays Jigsaws “game” is supposed to have a chance to live, but then they started introducing traps like the “shotgun merry-go-round” where people are used as pawns and are forced to die for the game to function properly. This completely misses the point of the previous movies. Thankfully, there really isn’t anything like that in “Saw X” which makes the outcomes even more interesting and harrowing.
“Saw X” was everything I was hoping it would be, and more. It was a breath of fresh air as well as a pleasant blast from the past. It had a captivating story, some of the best traps in the franchise, and had moments so tense I was practically twisting myself into knots, but It’s not perfect by any means. The script could have used another look over and it could have been paced out a bit better. Plus, the ending should have been more fleshed out. If you hate gory movies, this goes without saying, this probably isn’t the movie for you. With that being said, I give “Saw X” a 7.8/10.
