"These people have no respect for the lives that they're destroying."
As Saw VI lost out on the US top spot to Paranormal Activity on its opening weekend and took its lowest opening box-office of the series so far, the doomsayers predict the end of the series (even with Saw VII 3D already in pre-production). But let's get this into perspective: this is still very successful for the sixth film in a franchise and will still be very profitable for Lionsgate. Faced with the triple threat of the sleeper hit Paranormal Activity, franchise exhaustion and fans quite rightly unwilling to forgive the miserable fifth entry last year, Saw VI was facing an uphill battle from the start. In the UK at least, the fact that there are no screenings for critics in advance means that the films are at best dismissed summarily and at worst given negative reviews without real consideration by people who have not followed the series with any real interest or continuity. So, what of Number 6 (sorry, VI)? Thankfully, it proves to be the best entry since the opening trilogy (all three of which, on re-viewing, stand up very well), and a massive improvement on the unengaging and sloppy fifth film. Increased screen time for the excellent Tobin Bell is a bonus (yes, even though the character died in number three), and the development of his wife Jill (played beautifully by Betsy Russell) in this film is very pleasing. This time, the 'victims' have a genuine reason for being part of the narrative, the traps and games are mostly effective (especially when involving the viewer in making choices of who should survive), the opener being the weakest, and the carousel sequence shown widely in the pre-release material being much more extensively developed in the movie and proving to be one of the highlights. A genuinely strong finale and a set-up for a potentially explosive (and slightly different) sequel left me looking forward to next Halloween considerably more than Saw V did this time last year. One of the strengths of the Saw series is that it takes no prisoners in terms of the ongoing narrative; in this respect, it is extremely satisfying for the fans and utterly impenetrable to new or casual viewers, which cannot help box-office at this point. Saw VI uses flashbacks and the ongoing story to very clever purpose, and even the traditional narrative rug-pulling towards the end works very well here. Kevin Greutert - the Saw franchise's long-term editor - copes well in the director's chair, with just occasional mistiming that could have maximied the shocks a bit more, but giving Saw VI a sense of consistency and ambition in direction that the last two entries have lacked. This film definitely puts the franchise back on track - let's hope that the cinema-going audience does not desert it now and doom it to cheaper DVD-targeted hackwork.
As Saw VI lost out on the US top spot to Paranormal Activity on its opening weekend and took its lowest opening box-office of the series so far, the doomsayers predict the end of the series (even with Saw VII 3D already in pre-production). But let's get this into perspective: this is still very successful for the sixth film in a franchise and will still be very profitable for Lionsgate. Faced with the triple threat of the sleeper hit Paranormal Activity, franchise exhaustion and fans quite rightly unwilling to forgive the miserable fifth entry last year, Saw VI was facing an uphill battle from the start. In the UK at least, the fact that there are no screenings for critics in advance means that the films are at best dismissed summarily and at worst given negative reviews without real consideration by people who have not followed the series with any real interest or continuity. So, what of Number 6 (sorry, VI)? Thankfully, it proves to be the best entry since the opening trilogy (all three of which, on re-viewing, stand up very well), and a massive improvement on the unengaging and sloppy fifth film. Increased screen time for the excellent Tobin Bell is a bonus (yes, even though the character died in number three), and the development of his wife Jill (played beautifully by Betsy Russell) in this film is very pleasing. This time, the 'victims' have a genuine reason for being part of the narrative, the traps and games are mostly effective (especially when involving the viewer in making choices of who should survive), the opener being the weakest, and the carousel sequence shown widely in the pre-release material being much more extensively developed in the movie and proving to be one of the highlights. A genuinely strong finale and a set-up for a potentially explosive (and slightly different) sequel left me looking forward to next Halloween considerably more than Saw V did this time last year. One of the strengths of the Saw series is that it takes no prisoners in terms of the ongoing narrative; in this respect, it is extremely satisfying for the fans and utterly impenetrable to new or casual viewers, which cannot help box-office at this point. Saw VI uses flashbacks and the ongoing story to very clever purpose, and even the traditional narrative rug-pulling towards the end works very well here. Kevin Greutert - the Saw franchise's long-term editor - copes well in the director's chair, with just occasional mistiming that could have maximied the shocks a bit more, but giving Saw VI a sense of consistency and ambition in direction that the last two entries have lacked. This film definitely puts the franchise back on track - let's hope that the cinema-going audience does not desert it now and doom it to cheaper DVD-targeted hackwork.
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