Saw III - Movie Review

 Saw III (2006)

Wow, it's been 1 year and 2 months since I reviewed a film in this franchise! Since Spiral: From the Book of Saw is FINALLY coming out this week, I think it's time to at least review another one before that comes out! Saw III tells the story of a man named Jeff, who's son was killed by a drunk driver and is put through a serious of violent, sadistic tests to overcome his anger towards his son's killer, meanwhile Amanda from the first two films kidnaps a nurse to perform brain surgery on a dying John Kramer. Saw III was released in 2006 and was a massive box office success, becoming the highest grossing film in the franchise. Much like literally every film in the franchise, it received negative reviews from critics.

THE GOOD

Saw III is a movie that's just okay to me, I definitely have some problems with this one, but there's still plenty of things I liked about it. Tobin Bell as John Kramer/Jigsaw is once again great as the character, it's nothing short of iconic! This is one of the best acted Saw films. The traps are fucking gruesome, which is exactly what I want from a Saw film. There's plenty of gore and torture and shit like that. The opening scene was fucking BRUTAL, and the rack trap with that black guy getting his neck, arms and legs twisted is easily one of the most gruesome things in the franchise. Just like Saw II, this film does a great job at going deeper into the character of Jigsaw/John Kramer, I loved learning more about his worldview and philosophy and shit like that, it's absolutely one of the most compelling things about the franchise. The film also for the most part does a good job at maintaining the atmosphere that the first two films had. I loved the twist in the film where Amanda was actually an apprentice to Jigsaw before the first film, it's by far the best twist in the entire franchise!

THE BAD

My issues with the film is entirely with the pacing. This movie is one of the slowest in the franchise, and not always in a good way. The first 30 minutes of the film is basically trap after trap with very little story. It really takes a long time for the actual story to start. The main character being put through the test is super slow with everything he does, which makes the movie slower, which is why this is the longest film in the franchise. There were a few times where I wanted the movie to pick up the pace.

CONCLUSION

This was definitely a very easy film to review! Anyways, Saw III is a perfectly serviceable film the franchise. Despite glaring pacing issues, Saw III offers more of the compelling story behind Jigsaw and the gruesome, gory traps that we loved from the first two. As a Saw fan, I was always just satisfied enough with the film to enjoy it.

GRADE:  B

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for strong grisly violence and gore, sequences of terror and torture, nudity and language)

Run time:  113 min

Release date:  October 26th, 2006

Studio:  Lionsgate