[Rating:2/5]

People like to say that in a series, the first movie is the best and they keep getting worse with every new addition. Like Twilight, we all enjoyed the books and the thrill of the first movie, but the acting has gone downhill fast and it got too much hype. People didn’t think that would be the case with the Saw series though, but the last installment didn’t fulfill viewers high expectations.

Saw 3D puts us right back in the deadly traps of Jigsaw and his predecessor, Hoffman [Costas Mandylor]. We are stuck between two different plots. Hoffman seeks revenge upon Jigsaw’s widow, Jill [Betsy Russell], but also wants to teach Bobby Dagen [Sean Patrick Flanery] a lesson. Dagen is a Jigsaw “survivor” who has recently published a book on the experience and offers self-help meetings with other survivors, but needs a reality check according to Jigsaw.

The trailer exhibits the movie as if we are a part of it with the 3D feature. They introduce it as the scariest installment because we are the victim, but the 3D feature actually takes away from the suspense. It causes a distraction and really doesn’t come at you like they say it does. You might see a few blood splatters in front of your face every once and awhile, but that is if you have the stomach to sit there and watch it instead of cringe and look away while the theatre screams as the watch the gruesome story unfold.

The emphasis of the movie is solely upon the gore and traps. We never create an emotional attachment to the characters who are involved in this twisted morality game. The one scene where we see Dagen, his two colleagues, his best friend, and his wife is short, and the audience never connects with them. It doesn’t seem like Bobby likes his colleagues during a press interview we see, so when he fails to save them we don’t feel sympathy. For someone who doesn’t care about the gore, there are few melancholic qualities to connect to.

The writer and director confuse us with two different disorderly plots, which just make the movie all the more difficult to watch. We have one plot with Jill and Hoffman, which begins the movie and ends the movie. It is confusing and unnecessary for someone who has not previously seen the Saw movies. The other plot is with Dagen. This is where the bulk of the movie is held. It is more interesting, but still unethical. It does give the movie its edge and thrill, though.

Altogether I would say the movie was too unappealing for me to pay and see it again, too twisted for me to watch the previous installments, and too nauseating for me to hope for another edition.

By Marlee Schuld