Saw VI Movie Review

I said a few posts ago, that my sole reason for loving every Saw film was not because they were good, or intelligent, or at times made any sense, but because of the 80's horror cheese feeling that I get every time I watch one.

This film is both.

Saw VI is the directorial debut of Kevin Greutert, who's been an editor on the films since the beginning. In this film, Special Agent Strahm has died, leaving Detective Hoffman to emerge as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, as the FBI slowly closes in on Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaws grand scheme is finally understood.

Now, one of the best things about this film is the story, because while the other films don't exactly use Jigsaw tot he best of his ability, this film does, because we follow the head of an insurance company, as he's forced to go through Jigsaw's tests, choosing which of his employees live or die, because he has denied people coverage based on a system that basically breaks the law. Now, he's forced to use his own system on his employees, and must decide whether or not to break it.

I love this story, because it makes sense for once why Jigsaw is doing this. In the past films, he tortures some random druggie off the street who doesn't appreciate life because he does drugs. This doesn't work, because what is putting this guy who's already messed up in a trap, to traumatize him even more? How's that supposed to teach him to appreciate life?

With this however, it makes the guy in the traps understand how he affects people's lives when he denies them coverage, and has to evaluate his own life at the same time.

What I really love about this film though, is that it still has that cheese factor to it. While the actor playing the head of the insurance company is a good actor, he's surrounded by really bad ones. This makes for some moments that are meant to be scary, but are more laughable.

That's not to say that there aren't some scary moments in this film. There's one scene in particular where the insurance guy is holding on to two ropes, and if he lets one go, then one of his two employees (an elderly woman who has a family, and a kid who has no friends; who do you think he's gonna choose?), and if he doesn't let go, his arms will be ripped from his sockets, and both will die. It's really tense, watching him fight between his system, and what his soul is telling him, and all the while two lives are hanging in the balance.

Hoffman is of course back as Jigsaw's protege, and he's just as bad of an actor as ever; but like I said, that adds to the cheese factor of the film. He's forced to put Jigsaw's last game in motion (or at least what we are led to believe is his last game), and all the while he has to keep his FBI partners (who are pretty cheesy as well) from discovering who he is.

What would make this a perfect film is if they were to get both better actors, and better writers. While I said that the story is great(and believe me, it is), the dialog is either unintentionally hilarious, or it makes no sense. There's a scene in the film where two characters are having a conversation, and one character says something meaningless. The other character then precedes to say the same thing, just re-worded, and presents it as an argument! That's like saying "I agree with you, but I'm going to argue with you anyway."

To wrap things up, it's a good film, with some tense scenes, an ingenious plot, and some amazingly cheesy dialog, and I definitely recommend you check it out.