 Tagline: It's a trap. When SWAT Commander Rigg is abducted and thrust into a game, the last officer untouched by Jigsaw has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps and save an old friend... or face the deadly consequences. Storyline: Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda are dead. Now, upon the news of Detective Kerry's murder, two seasoned FBI profilers, Agent Strahm and Agent Perez, arrive in the terrified community to assist the veteran Detective Hoffman in sifting through Jigsaw's latest grisly remains and piecing together the puzzle. However, when SWAT Commander Rigg is abducted and thrust into a game, the last officer untouched by Jigsaw has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps and save an old friend or face the deadly consequences. Written by Lionsgate Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, January 18, 2008 -- Warning: this review contains spoilers relating to earlier films in the Saw franchise. It's not over. The games have just begun. Those words scare me perhaps more than anything I've witnessed in any of the films of the Saw franchise. A new Saw movie comes out every Halloween. I would guess that the upcoming Saw V will follow in the footsteps of this disc and not see the light of day on Blu-ray for about a year. Thank goodness for life's little miracles. After watching the "quadrilogy" (to steal a word from Fox) over the course of the past few days, witnessing Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV for the first time, I must admit that I'm not completely disappointed with the series. I've been impressed that each film builds off the events of the previous films in the franchise, and even if things continue to become more and more illogical, I'll give credit to the writers for trying to make the Saw franchise into something other horror series just don't even bother shooting for. I'm also impressed with the way each movie wraps up at the end, all following a certain visual style as the secrets of the film, and films past, are revealed to both the protagonists and to the audience. Don't get me wrong, the Saw films aren't masterpieces and I doubt I'll ever revisit them again, but they take a novel approach to horror move franchise filmmaking, and for that I am grateful. That said, the last two movies have stretched the story line pretty thin, and I can only hope that Saw V manages to reel the franchise back into some semblance of a level headed, grounded story without getting overly complex or laughable. As Saw IV opens, gore fiends are treated to an autopsy of Jigsaw's body. We see it performed in excruciating, stomach churning detail. The doctors find a micro cassette tape in the killer's stomach, which will prove to be important by the end of the film. Meanwhile, investigators, along with Officer Rigg (Lyriq Bent, reprising his role from previous films in the series), discover the location of detective Kerry's (Dina Meyer, also reprising her role from previous Saw films) corpse. Investigators believe that the small statured Amanda (Shawnee Smith, veteran of the series) and Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, Saw star) could not have suspended her body alone and that there must be a third, as of yet unknown, associate on the loose. This assailant proceeds to attack officer Rigg and when he awakens, he finds himself victim to a Jigsaw-esque game where he is given 90 minutes to find detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg, Saw II) who is still alive and in the custody of Jigsaw's mysterious assistant some six months later. Rigg must travel to several locations where he is forced to choose whether to help victims escape from their traps or allow them to remain as they are. As Rigg gets closer to finding detective Matthews, subsequent events lead the viewer to realize that the events of Saw IV are actually happening in conjunction with those of Saw III and several mysteries are revealed in clever fashion. There's just too much going on to say anything else without spoiling some part of the film, so I'll stop here and allow the movie, should you choose to watch it, to unravel the mysteries for you because everything ties together in a very clever fashion. Thankfully, Saw IV returns the series back to its roots, foregoing the extreme violence of the third film in favor of a horror movie with a decent plot, decent writing, chills, scares, and some mystery and thriller elements tossed in to make it a passable film. This is easily the second bloodiest film in the series, but the carnage is nonetheless toned down considerably in this film in comparison to part III. Officer Rigg proved to be my favorite protagonist (or victim) in the series. For once we get a somewhat competent hero who attempts the obvious before panicking or acting foolish. When he awakens in his tub, about to begin the game, he checks the door for traps and grabs his Beretta handgun before meandering around, calling out for someone, crying, or doing various other stupid things horror movie victims do. Perhaps he's watched Scream and knows the rules of horror. Technically, this is the best Saw yet. It's obvious that the filmmakers are getting comfortable with not only the characters and the material, but also with how they handle themselves and the approach they take to making movies. Director Darren Lynn Bousman has now helmed 75% of the series, and I think that is one of the reasons Saw IV worked as well as it did, namely because of his passion for the franchise and heavy involvement in it. As I've mentioned in my reviews for the other Saw films, these movies are meant as escapist films, not anything overly profound or important, although there can be a certain higher meaning too if one wants to dig pretty deep for it. I'm certainly not in love with the series but the continued reliance on one ongoing story rather than sequel after sequel of disjointed stories that are mostly carbon copies of one another is certainly a welcome change of pace for this casual horror fan. Saw IV is far from great cinema, but it's passable horror that throws several nice twists and turns at viewers that will keep them guessing until the surprising ending. This movie turns down the gore and turns up the story, providing a more streamlined, palatable film that is just fine in the context of horror and the series. The film is the most polished of the franchise. This comes as no surprise as many of the same cast and crew have dedicated themselves to the world of Saw. Concerning the Blu-ray, this disc really shines. We get top notch video and audio quality that blows away the previous three films and is no slouch standing on its own merits alongside many of the best Blu-ray discs currently available. The supplements are just fine, too. Neither fans of high cinema nor casual moviegoers will likely enjoy this film, however. It's plenty bloody and makes little sense if you are not familiar with the previous entries into the series. As such, Saw IV is recommended, but only for fans of the series. Everyone else is best served to start from the beginning. Cast Notes: Tobin Bell (Jigsaw / John), Costas Mandylor (Hoffman), Scott Patterson (Agent Strahm), Betsy Russell (Jill), Lyriq Bent (Rigg), Athena Karkanis (Agent Perez), Justin Louis (Art), Simon Reynolds (Lamanna), Donnie Wahlberg (Eric Mathews), Angus Macfadyen (Jeff), Shawnee Smith (Amanda), Bahar Soomekh (Lynn), Dina Meyer (Kerry), Mike Realba (Fisk), Marty Adams (Ivan). IMDb Rating (04/05/15): 5.9/10 from 97,500 users IMDb Rating (01/20/07): 6.4/10 from 12,579 users
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
