 Tagline: He helped me. -- 6 Chances, 6 Lessons. 6 Choices. -- The Game Comes Full Circle Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood. Storyline: Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood. Written by Anonymous Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on January 27, 2010 -- You choose who lives or dies. --- Death, taxes, and Saw. No doubt about it, they have plenty in common, all three capable of reliably bleeding one dry, though Saw proves a bit more punctual, predictable, and welcome in its annual October release schedule (though it would be rather ironic to see the series switch to a tax day release schedule, especially if the filmmakers decide to take on the IRS rather than insurance companies in the next installment). The latest Energizer Bunny of a Horror franchise is now on its sixth entry and is still as gruesome as ever, not to mention as meticulously involved as, well, a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that, when assembled, doesn't show cuddly kittens or a scenic landscape but instead a complexly-realized series of gruesome traps and deaths born of a master manipulator with the uncanny ability to predict convoluted turns of events, read people's psyches, and understand both the base elements and more intricate structure of the human condition than any other person in history. With this kind of insight into future events, John Kramer, AKA "Jigsaw," could have had himself a career as the next Miss Cleo if the whole torture/revenge/lesson-teaching routine hadn't worked out for him. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is dead, but his legacy lives on through Lieutenant Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), the man who is continuing on with his mentor's work of punishing the guilty for their various crimes while giving them a choice to live or die as they reflect on their lives and perceived maladies that have landed them in the deadly grasp of another torturous device. With the police still believing the recently-deceased Special Agent Peter Strahm -- not Hoffman -- to be Jigsaw's apprentice, Hoffman nevertheless finds that his identity may soon be revealed through the clever work of both the forensic and investigative teams on the case, not to mention the return of an old colleague long thought dead. While attempting to cover his tracks, Hoffman begins a new game, this time ensnaring an insurance company executive, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), who has time and again denied health care coverage to those that fail to produce a profitable result in a mathematical formula of his own creation. In the game, William is forced time and again to choose life or death as he comes face-to-face with various acquaintances along the route Hoffman's planned for him to follow, deciding who is worth saving and who is better off dead, using not a complex equation but rather his instincts in a game that he knows all-too-well -- but is finally forced to play in the flesh. Saw VI is nothing but more of the same, but for fans of the series, more of the same is exactly what they want. Though the gore seems slightly toned down from previous entries, there's still plenty of self-mutilation, gallons of blood, deadly traps, and a finale that's as gruesome as anything found throughout the series. The picture retains the industrial, no-nonsense tone of its predecessors and places its victims inside old, complex, labyrinthine structures that provide enough insulation and isolation to keep the proceedings on the down-low and minimize the chances for outside influences. Additionally, the traps remain intricately devised but crudely implemented; they run on gears, bicycle pedals, scales, valves, and other simple mechanisms that help cock and fire shotguns, release steam, or in some way gorge, gouge, or mutilate victims. The tried-and-true Saw formula works in spite of a dull plot line that deals with "evil" insurance companies that are painted in the most negative light imaginable, but in all fairness the writers have smartly and adequately intertwined this standalone plot to the series' overreaching story line that ties it all back to John Kramer's past and his well-planned execution of this series of events from beyond the grave. On its sixth release, it would appear on the surface that there's not much differentiating the Saw Franchise from the other godfathers of Horror, the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street pictures that have seen their numbers increased steadily over the decades. However, Saw does take things a step further by building intricate layers of mystery atop the gore, each film slowly assembling a piece of the puzzle that always manages to bring parts of the story full circle but at the same time construct a new mystery that promises to be revealed in future segments. No matter one's opinion on the film's horrifically gruesome content, there's no denying the noble effort to make this franchise something more, and even for audiences sick and tired of the excessive gore, there's still a morbid allure to the pictures if only to discover the next secret and admire the effort -- sometimes strong, sometimes feeble, but now, mostly, somewhere in the middle -- to keep the story going with a purpose other than to simply pour blood and spill guts all over the screen. Certainly, the Saw films sometimes lack in acting and scripting, but the production values are generally superb, and even if the story has a slightly jumbled feel, it's the effort even more so than the execution that earns the films a generally high mark. Saw VI continues with the tradition, unraveling through various flashbacks both to scenes in previous films and newly-revealed details of Kramer's past that keep the story fresh and engaging, and the film once again ends with plenty of revelations but also unearths new questions that beg to be answered in future installments. Saw VI is a crude film, but it's true to the series' tone and appeal. Structurally, the film is barely distinguishable from the past few entries; the traps are still novel in look but not necessarily in function, while the standalone story concocted for part six fits in well with the history of the franchise as both previously established and newly minted in this picture. With a strong ending that's both satisfactory in its revelations but still leaving viewers with a juicy cliffhanger, the series is still as good as it ever was and continues to be relevant in its ability to craft a seemingly endless but halfway plausible Horror legend. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release of Saw VI delivers the goods. Featuring a good technical presentation and a host of extras, including a somewhat superfluous Blu-ray copy of the original Saw (it would seem most buyers of Saw VI would already own Saw, not to mention the other five films), there's enough here to warrant a purchase for those that adore the series. To them, Saw VI comes strongly recommended. [CSW] -4- Almost s good as the first Saw movie. Although it could be taken as a stand-alone the problem is that a good working knowledge of all of the previous Saw plots helps make this plot a lot more complete. That said if you only get to see two Saw movies make this the second one after you see the very first one. Cast Notes: Tobin Bell (Jigsaw / John), Costas Mandylor (Mark Hoffman), Mark Rolston (Dan Erickson), Betsy Russell (Jill Tuck), Shawnee Smith (Amanda Young), Peter Outerbridge (William Easton), Athena Karkanis (Agent Lindsey Perez), Samantha Lemole (Pamela Jenkins), Tanedra Howard (Simone), Marty Moreau (Eddie), Shawn Ahmed (Allen), Janelle Hutchison (Addy), Gerry Mendicino (Janitor), Caroline Cave (Debbie), George Newbern (Harold Abbott). IMDb Rating (04/05/15): 6.0/10 from 65,223 users IMDb Rating (03/28/11): 5.7/10 from 34,853 users
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