by Alex Henderson, Contributing Writer
I have always had a fascination with the Saw franchise. The original by James Wan and Leigh Whannell was an instant hit and quickly became a staple within the horror genre. Because of this, we’d get a new release of the series at Halloween for the next six years. These movies were cheap to make and could easily earn their budget back, so it would only make sense that a studio would want to keep printing money. But as the franchise went on, the quality of the writing dropped with nearly each sequel that was released. This caused the series to end in 2010 when the straw that broke the camel’s back was Saw 3D. Lionsgate put the series on hiatus for almost seven years until they released Jigsaw in 2017. It was received rather poorly by critics and fans and never got a follow up.
Now we have arrived in 2021, with Spiral: From the Book of Saw. This marks the latest entry into the series to attempt to reinvent itself and appeal to both new and old audiences. With producer Chris Rock attached and director Darren Lynn Bousman (who directed the second, third, and fourth Saw movies), we are left asking the question if Spiral is a step in the right direction or another miss in the series that leaves it rotting more than Dr. Gordon’s foot while still locked away in that bathroom.
To answer the question, I would have to say that this is absolutely what the series needed. This is probably not only my favorite Saw movie since the original, but I could see myself loving it more than the first down the line. This time it has been several years since the Jigsaw murders and John Kramer has been dead, as new victims start appearing that link to a precinct filled with crooked cops. We follow Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), son of former Captain Marcus Banks (Samuel L. Jackson), as he works with his new rookie partner to find out who the new copycat killer is and end the game before more cops start dying.
The number one thing that intrigued me is when I heard that Rock was attached as a producer and even came up with some of the story. We all know him for his comedic performances over the years, so seeing him turn to something more serious and the fact that he reached out personally to Lionsgate to get this movie made instantly caught my attention. The bad news here is that Rock probably was not the best decision for the lead in this movie. He is clearly trying too hard to act and sometimes he goes so far that it feels like overacting. He is not completely terrible as he gets better as the movie goes along, but for the first hour it just was not working. We also have Jackson here, and I think he is great, but he is not in the movie for as much as I thought he would be.
Saw is typically known for how gruesome the traps can be, and a lot of time during the production would usually be spent coming up with traps for each sequel. Spiral has traps, but also does not spend too much of the runtime focusing on them. We often go for large sections of the movie not focusing on them, and I think that is a good decision. My issue with each sequel is that they constantly put the traps first before the story, and here the story is front and center. My only issue is that I think we needed more time spent going into the details of the fellow cops that are being targeted, as well as some more scenes with Rock to develop his relationship with his partner (Max Minghella). I think about 20 extra minutes is exactly what can help this movie fix some of those issues and it would not surprise me if there is a director’s cut released soon. I can see why fans are divided on this movie being more story driven, but I think this is a change for the better.
I do have some critiques I’d like to point out before going into my final verdict. Without giving away any spoilers, I think there is a reveal in this movie that becomes obvious near its ending that I thought could’ve had a bigger impact on me if done more subtly. I do think this is a good looking movie, but some editing choices that are used to crank up the intensity of some scenes just feel out of place. Spiral wants so badly to be its own story separate from the Saw universe, but can’t help but using hyper cut edits that feel out of place to reassure you it’s all a part of the overall franchise. I say either fully commit to that style or do not don’t do it at all because the result can feel like a bit of an identity crisis. I also think the score is mostly forgettable and most of the song choices just didn’t work for me. Some of the major plot points are told in flashbacks, which I usually don’t mind, but there are so many that you just get tired of them and annoyed that they wait until the last minute to give you this information, which is when it feels most necessary. By the time you get some of these flashbacks, they just become another way to give you more details on some of the already poor exposition.
My final verdict is that as a Saw fan, I was very entertained by Spiral and this is always what I wanted from a Saw revival. This is what I wanted Jigsaw to be. While it does a lot right and is a step forward in my eyes, I can’t help but think that Spiral sadly has more potential than it delivers on. To make it simple, it’s a Saw movie I really like, but it’s a movie I think that’s just okay. I’m down for at least a followup to this, and I’m really interested to see how people react to this movie as time goes on.
Grade: C+