SAW VI Review

By: Michael Lee

Starring: Tobin Bell, Betsy Russell, Darius McCrary
Year: 2009

"Saw VI" isn't as good as "Saw II". That being said, it is the second best of the series. It actually answers SO many questions instead of asking them, and it seems as if the makers of this movie have decided to focus more on the story instead of the gore...

However the very first scene is possibly the goriest of the entire series and I actually didn't like it a bit. It's this type of scene that gives people the impression that this film series is nothing but gratuitous blood and gore. And this scene doesn't really even play out. They come back to it maybe... Twice the entire movie? I don't know, I just think they could have had something more productive to open the film.

The scenes that follow it, however, are very interesting. While the Hoffman-is-working-for-Jigsaw storyline was very confusing at first, this movie seems to wrap it up nicely... Uh, sort of. But what's even more interesting is the John Kramer storyline. Without a doubt, John (who is Jigsaw for those of you not familiar with the series) is the most engaging character, and if there was something to be said about the last two sequels is that they lacked a significant amount of Jigsaw. Luckily, this movie is here to fill in any blanks left out of the first five movies. Even better, his flashbacks give the characters introduced in the earlier movies even more of a backstory and defines their relationship even further (Such as Amanda's backstory, which enhances some of the fourth and third movies characters an how they interact.)

Finally, the last story, which is actually the main story of the film, is about a douchebag health insurance exec. Using a formula, he determines who he will cover and who he won't, leaving the sick to die (guess who wasn't chosen as a client... That's right, John Kramer). Now the douche is locked in a zoo and has to use his formula to make tough decisions of which of his fellow co-worker live or die. It's possibly the best emphasis of a character's judgement I've seen since Jeff Reinheart's tests in the third film. Plus, the twist ending of this storyline is amazingly dope, enough to actually make me gasp out loud in shock when the finale is revealed.

Overall, this film is a 7 and I'm going to buy this when it comes out on DVD. I wish this was the last of the series but producers have already confirmed a "Saw VII" in 3-D. I'm not going to pass on it, and I'll actually welcome it if the film-makers do a job as good as this one again. They certainly leave it open for a new storyline.

 

7 out of 10 Super Scary Serial Killer's Hockey Masks.