I have been a Saw fan since the early days and am always excited when another one is in the works, but I have very mixed feelings about this film. On one hand, there's a lot to like and also plenty to dislike about the final product. For starters, the best parts were obviously the traps and the ending, however, the film overall feels rather soulless. It doesn't particularly feel like a Saw film, though I guess at the same time Spiral is the most similar in structure and atmosphere to the first Saw film. But something still just felt off.
I'm not particularly a fan of Chris Rock, so I wasn't super impressed by his performance per se but it wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. The rest of the cast does their parts fine, but nothing to write home about. The story is fine, emphasis on fine, but I will say that I do like that this killer is basically hunting bad cops, which is very politically relevant. But a lot of it still felt very forced and the ending, while it makes sense, isn't gratifying enough nor does it even really get resolved (now that they have Saw 10 on the way, I kind of expected the cliffhanger). Also I absolutely HATE this new voiceover they chose for the killer, it sounds AWFUL. Please just go back to the OG voice, I beg of you!
Now this isn't to say the film is "bad", but it surely isn't very memorable. There are elements that work here, sure, but ultimately the sum of its parts leaves much to be desired. As much as I really wanted to enjoy the film more, I would go as far to say this is probably among the worst of the franchise, despite it technically being a spin-off(?) of sorts (or at least a departure from the John Kramer story). And maybe that's because the Kramer story was so intricate and intriguing, whereas this one is doing more of the same but with a less interesting version of Jigsaw. Hopefully it can be redeemed by the sequel, but I won't be holding my breath. The quality of the franchise has gradually decreased with every new movie, and it's obvious the end times may be near. But with all this said, I will always support Saw and any future films because she's an icon after all!
I'm not particularly a fan of Chris Rock, so I wasn't super impressed by his performance per se but it wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. The rest of the cast does their parts fine, but nothing to write home about. The story is fine, emphasis on fine, but I will say that I do like that this killer is basically hunting bad cops, which is very politically relevant. But a lot of it still felt very forced and the ending, while it makes sense, isn't gratifying enough nor does it even really get resolved (now that they have Saw 10 on the way, I kind of expected the cliffhanger). Also I absolutely HATE this new voiceover they chose for the killer, it sounds AWFUL. Please just go back to the OG voice, I beg of you!
Now this isn't to say the film is "bad", but it surely isn't very memorable. There are elements that work here, sure, but ultimately the sum of its parts leaves much to be desired. As much as I really wanted to enjoy the film more, I would go as far to say this is probably among the worst of the franchise, despite it technically being a spin-off(?) of sorts (or at least a departure from the John Kramer story). And maybe that's because the Kramer story was so intricate and intriguing, whereas this one is doing more of the same but with a less interesting version of Jigsaw. Hopefully it can be redeemed by the sequel, but I won't be holding my breath. The quality of the franchise has gradually decreased with every new movie, and it's obvious the end times may be near. But with all this said, I will always support Saw and any future films because she's an icon after all!