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...
Saw IV traps itself into a convoluted mess than not even Jigsaw could escape. Do you remember those times when we would watch two random individuals, chained to desecrated poles in a dilapidated bathroom, undergo a psychological mystery that was both jaw-dropping and mentally stimulating? Ahhh. Good times. Well, Whannell departed from this sequel, so we have some newbies. Fresh meat for Jigsaw to gratuitously test with his incoherent storyline. Mmm smell that? The scent of potential! And he slashes these writers up good, whilst we all sleep waiting for this unintelligent mess to gouge our eyes out. Literally cannot even begin to describe the purpose of this sequel, other than to make mountains of dollar. John Kramer is supposedly dead (yet gets more screen time than anyone else!?) to which an officer is embroiled in another set of deadly games, leading him to the location of two hostages.
Aside from one or two minor alterations, it's the exact same as 'Saw III' which was pretty much a combination of the negative qualities from 'Saw I' and 'Saw II'. So what I'm trying to say is, Saw IV is bad. Really bad. Never mind the uninspired traps that no longer leave a lasting impression with its now apparent CGI blood, its biggest issue is with the circuitous story. Nothing we haven't seen before, yet executed in the most amateur way possible.
Small clips are repeated over and over again, like slamming a piece of paper down. Didn't get the message? Well here, watch it six times in a row. Scene transitions so unattractive, particularly the smashing through a mirror sequence, that it disorientated me on multiple occasions. But, oh, what's this? Ladies and gentlemen, we may very well have our first flashback within a flashback. Mind. Blown. You thought the flashbacks destroyed the momentum of the previous film? Ha! You haven't seen anything yet. The sheer ferocity of expositional backstory, to humanise John Kramer even further (which we didn't ask for!), is thrown in our faces at such velocity that it's like we're watching an episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?'.
There were glimpses of tension, notably towards the end with a timer ticking away, where I perked up and started getting into it. He actually might not make it in time! Oh, ofcourse. How could I forget about the inevitable final plot twist that further convolutes the story and explains that everything went "according to plan". These characters weren't tested. My patience was! Despite my reservations for its unnecessary purpose, it somewhat does make sense I think? Atleast there's a slight continuity between these films. Just y'know, not enough for me to declare this as watchable.
The acting was below par, especially from Mandylor. The editing was haphazard and nauseating. Heck, there was even a scene where an innocent police office is impaled by a trap that some other dumb office activated when dusting it for evidence. Are you kidding me? And don't get me started on how useless officer Rigg was. "What do I do?" whilst staring at a contraption for sixty second waiting for it to rip the scalp off its victim. Urgh. Just three more sequels to go, surely the next one can improve on this rapidly declining franchise...
