Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Member since:29.08.2002
Reviews:627
Members who trust:281
I seem to have become more of a cinema goer in recent times. I’ve been quite a few times in the last couple of months, but I seem to keep choosing the wrong films to watch when I go. I’d heard a lot of good things about Saw and it was with great expectation that I decided to watch it. Especially as it has been heralded as the scariest movie of the year, I take it they didn’t see the Legend of Ron Burgandy. The film has a bit of a different feel to it, which I thought would make it a good film, shame it didn’t turn out that way.
We meet out characters for the first time in a dark room. Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up to find himself sat in a bathtub in a dark room. After a few moments of scrambling about and shouting a voice from the darkness tells him its pointless. A short time later the man across the room finds a light switch and we now meet the rooms other occupant Dr Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes). They are both chained at opposite ends of the room with a
body lying in the middle surrounded by a puddle of blood.
They soon discover that they are part of a game as they discover two tapes with a distorted voice telling them what’s expected of them. If Lawrence wants his family alive he needs to kill Adam by a certain time. The tapes don’t give any reasons as to why they are in the room or who they really are. Lawrence manages to work out they are in the middle of a game by someone called “Jigsaw”, who has committed a number of other crimes we are told about before we even find out about our main characters. From there the film progresses and lasts a whole 100 minutes.
I left the cinema feeling thoroughly bored out of my mind. It started off well enough but within about half an hour I’d given up and was struggling to keep myself interested. I found the main problem was the lack of character development in the earlier part of the film. There was no explanation as to how they came to be there until well into the film and this disturbed the flow dramatically. As we walked out everyone seemed to be of pretty much the same opinion, that although it seemed to have a good idea behind it, it certainly was lacking.
That’s of no discredit to director James Wan with this his directorial debut. He wrote the film along with the main star Whannell, who also made his writing debut with this movie. They seemed to have a few good ideas and implemented them really well but seemed to get the order of the film a little mixed up. I felt the lack of characterisation early on really hurt the film and it didn’t really recover. It’s actually quite well made with no silly camera trickery or over the top special effects.
Instead it comes across as a good idea and keeps you guessing right to the end. In fact the only reason I didn’t walk out of the cinema was so I could see if I got it right. There are a lot of similarities with Se7en, but it really isn’t in the same class. There wasn’t a soundtrack as such apart from the odd snippet of music used to set the mood. As far as debut films go it was quite good just lacking a little in details that would have kept the interest for longer.
The poor characterisation also plays a part in what I thought were pretty average performances from the main actors. I thought that Leigh Whannell was quite good and as a relative newcomer to acting and writing he put in a good performance. I just didn’t feel like I really cared what happened to Adam and as such it put a slight taint on Leigh’s performance. On the other side Elwes was little better than average. I think that even with a bit more characterisation early on I’d still have been wanting him to die within the first ten minutes of the film, shame he didn’t.
The rest of the cast are relatively unknown apart from Danny Glover who plays the head of the police. It’s not his most impressive performance but he does what he’s asked to do. Again the problems with the characterisation leave you feeling a little under whelmed with regards to the supporting cast. Most of them are actors who are either trying to rescue a career or start out as an actor. This shows that the film wasn’t exactly a big budget block buster, but at the same time it wasn’t a total failure.
Overall it was a pretty average film. It had its good points and was certainly an original, well thought out idea. I just felt that the lack of depth in the script and the delay in letting us get to know the main characters detracted from the movie. It’s something I expect will come with time but if Whannell and Wan keep making films together they will get it right soon enough. It’s not exactly a scary movie as far as I could see but had quite a lot of gruesome moments. I think it’d probably be best suited for a night in with a DVD rather than a night out to the cinema.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
I'm glad I waited for the DVD. I actually enjoyed it, but really didn't like either of the characters enough to care whether they lived or died. I felt it was a good idea, but not well done. The odd thing was that it felt like a book adaptation, which it wasn't was it? Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!
Spike_ 22.11.2004 22:31
Oooooh I saw this, I thought it were dead good.Always interesting to read a different point of view though. Top stuff.
donnamarie2004 05.11.2004 10:05
its a shame you did not like i loved it i could not take my eyes away from it thought i must admit i'm not a big fan of goorey films and there was some boring bits in the film
Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) ... more
and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitte...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) ... more
and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitte...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
How much blood would you shed to stay alive? Two men (Whannell and Elwes) wake up in the ... more
secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual calling card. Given six hours a hacksaw and a bullet the two...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Awakening from a drugged stupor, Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) finds himself chained to ... more
a pipe in a dingy bathroom, with another man (Leigh Whannell) in the same situation across the room . The men are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer, a mani...
![Saw [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78502875.jpg "Saw [DVD] [2004]")
Oct 21st, 2004
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