Not Your Mommy’s Saw

Review: SAW III

Saw III on Rotten Tomatoes
Official Saw III movie site

Saw III pushes the psychological horror/thriller genre even further without becoming a retread of the previous two Saw films. Like Saw II, the movie’s produced by Darren Lynn Bousman. The writing includes both writers from the first two Saw movies. From Saw I, James Wan, and from the second Saw movie, Leigh Whannell. Knowing this, it seems some elements from both films are woven together to make Saw III. Like in Saw I, there’s a dramatic back-stories of the victims. Essences of Saw II shine through in the editing of the film which inner-cuts between the two story lines.

The plot still involves Jigsaw (acted by Tobin Bell) but this time he’s not the star in his game. His protege, Amanda (acted by Shawnee Smith), has taken over and is ready to dispense some of the goriest scenes in any of the Saw films. (Hopefully the gore is a given if one is thinking about going to see a Saw film.)

Jigsaw’s not doin’ so hot. He’s near death and in need of a little tender love and care. Amanda enlists the help of Lynn (acted by Bahar Soomekh), a doctor, to care for Jigsaw in a rather unique way. Without giving it away, Lynn must help Jigsaw or become another victim in one of his games.

The other story line going on in Saw III involves a man, Jeff (acted by Angus Macfadyen) who’s stuck in one of Jigsaw’s game. Like the other games, Jeff is faced with choices involving sacrifice and death.

The story and writing worked for the most part. What worked was the mixing of psychological elements from Saw I with the gruesome elements of Saw II. Instead of just getting the shock value of the violence, we also feel the emotional agony the violence causes surrounding characters. Each scene of violence seems to be effecting not just one person, but everyone involved. Another element that really worked was the fact that this film adds to the richness of the entire Saw series by going back and telling bits and pieces of the previous films from a different angle. One thing that didn’t work was that some of the catch phrases used in the previous films were overused in Saw III.

The most notable aspect of the film-making is the editing effects. The scenes that would normally freak out the viewer have been intensified with camera and editing effects including quick edits, zooms, and lighting flashes. (Picture an 80s Flava Flav video.) This works in both adding suspense and wince-value to an already disturbing set of scenes. Match this up to dark musical swells and each dramatic moment seems like a cliff-hanger from a TV hospital drama.

The generally dark tone of the series is withheld, and the ambiance of the sets becomes as much of a character in the film as the actors themselves. Even when the sets are well-lit, the light only seems to highlight an even more shocking moment. We’re expecting for things to pop out of the darkness at us, but sometimes knowing what’s coming is even worse.

One thing that didn’t work were the back-stories of the victims. Instead of getting the viewer into the head of the characters, the back-stories just seem like bad bits from a Lifetime TV drama. More dramatic moments from the character’s past could have helped us sympathize with them. Instead, the viewer is shown the characters staring blankly off into space that seem more like bad cologne commercials.

More psychological, still gruesome, and often shocking, Saw III lives up to and surpasses the previous films. We’re given the best of what worked in both films to end up with a better movie-going experience and story than either movie did alone. What worked was violence that effected not only the victim, but also inflicted emotional damage to the surrounding characters in the film. What didn’t work was the fact that the writers started overusing some of the key phrases used in the previous Saw films. Fans will not be disappointed by this movie. The interesting story lines and film-making are only complemented by the insight
provided into the previous films. This serves as only icing on the cake of an already great
film.

Rating: 4/5

[9/2/2006] Movie Review: Hustle andFlow

Hustle and Flow (2005) was not a traditional rags to riches story. It seems to me hard to dub a movie traditional when the main character is trying to rap his way to stardom with subject matters involving whoopin’ dat trick and how hard it is bein’ a pimp. Hustle and Flow however, seems to pull it off in a semi-believable way.

The movie stars D-Jay, Terrence Howard, who was in Crash and Ray. D-Jay is a down and out pimp who’s trying to rediscover what he wants to do with his life. After bumping into a friend from high school and getting some inspiration from a local bar tender who he’s selling weed to, he decides he’s gotta get out the rappin’ that’s going on in his head.

Howard’s acting is believable, even though he doesn’t look like much of a thug. His forceful confrontations with his hoes come across well. You can smell the air of desperation he deals with in order to provide from his family, if you can call it one. The family consists of a hodge-podge of whores, baby-mamas, and sure enough, babies. The desperation continues through the film and as the stakes get higher. Howard comes through with the crazy eyes as he pushes the character to the brink of insanity while still seemingly with his eyes on his goal of being a rap star.

The movie also calls for Howard to do a bit of freestyle flowin’ too. The freestyle was good and wasn’t over-played to the point that it became a music video. The director, Craig Brewer, did start to make it like a music-video with quick cuts in-time to the music, but it was used sparingly enough not to get too annoying. Some humor is added to these scenes by DJ Quall, who you’ll probably remember as the skinny, white kid from Road Trip. (Yes, he’s the kid who eats the French toast that the diner waiter wiped his ass with.) The humor lightens the mood of the almost always serious movie.

The tone of the movie is mostly dark and serious, except for the humor plugged into the rapping scenes. Long takes of the street-life in the beginning of the film set the tone for the D-Jay’s (Howard) hard lifestyle. These opening scenes seem to drag, but give the rapping scenes an odd sense of authenticity later. The rapping gains a level of urgency too, knowing that D-Jay’s flat broke and needs this break in order to continue living.

The direction is straight forward. There is some hand-held action for the more intense scenes of D-Jay ruffing up his hoes, but the main use of the camera is for story-telling. The editing was, more likely than not, used to tell the story as well. There are some quick cuts to add intensity to the more emotional moments of the film, but most time the editing is not noticeable.

The plot seems to wrap up too quickly at the end of the film and we’re left with only wondering if D-Jay’s character achieves fame or not. It could have been that the story was only about how D-Jay tried to jump start his rapping career, but with the time invested, it’s almost a shame we don’t see the outcome of his perseverance.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, but only give it a three out of five stars. The story succeeded with getting me emotionally involved with the characters in the film, but lacked an interesting or fulfilling ending.