by Foster Harlfinger, Contributing Writer
Following his advanced brain cancer diagnosis, Saw X follows an increasingly desperate John Kramer (Tobin Bell) down to a remote experimental clinic in Mexico City with hopes of a cure. Despite a handful of convincing referrals from fellow patients, the health clinic led by Dr. Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund) is not quite what it seems.
Set between the events of Saw and Saw II, this tenth installment in the Saw franchise takes a respectable amount of time developing its characters before transitioning into the tension-filled gore fest that audiences have come to expect. Positioning Kramer as the lead is a game-changer for the series. Where Kramer/Jigsaw would previously operate in the shadows, acting as a supporting character in his own franchise, Saw X lives and dies on Bell’s lead performance.
It remains one of the great mysteries of life that Saw decided to kill its greatest asset only three films in, leaving its sequels to grapple with this loss with increasingly ludicrous timeline jumps and plot contrivances. Bell’s performance — as it has always been — is terrific, and placing him as the lead allows for an unexpected level of sympathy for the infamous Jigsaw Killer. By the time his victims are forced to “make a choice,” we are genuinely invested in the outcome, and might even find ourselves rooting for the villain.
Helmed by Saw franchise veteran Kevin Greutert, Saw X revels in many of the same early 2000s stylistic sensibilities that fans have come to know and love. The hyperactive cinematography and chaotic editing style returns each time a new grisly Jigsaw trap is revealed, and any fan of the franchise knows that a new Saw film is only as good as its traps. While not the most creative of the franchise, the traps of Saw X are tense, visceral, and wildly fun to watch with a crowd.
As experience has taught us, the final 20 minutes can make or break a Saw film. Though no sequel has come close to recapturing the lightning-in-a-bottle feeling of the original Saw’s ending reveal, Saw X delivers a fairly satisfying finale, complete with the franchise’s soap-opera plot revelations and a fitting use of composer Charlie Clouser’s absolute monster of a track “Hello Zepp.” With its focus on Kramer as the lead, and a well-developed mentor/apprentice relationship with franchise favorite Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Saw X is the most satisfying film of the franchise in years.
After experimenting with different approaches to the series with Jigsaw and Spiral, screenwriters Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger have written a back-to-basics story that should satisfy any Saw franchise devotee. The film’s effective timeline placement — along with a fun mid-credits tease — leaves the door open for any number of prequel, sequel, or in-between-quel films. For the first time in over a decade, the franchise is back on track.
Rating: Liked It
Saw X is currently playing in theaters
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