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Rating: 1 out of 5
I have seen every Saw movie out there. I was enamored by the first film as it brought a whole new feel and look to the horror genre. Many people didn’t like the film, but that twist ending had me on edge with the whole game over. Even though the films were cheap to make, they soon went from a horror film to one where the traps and deaths were the main storyline. After a while, the films became boring and stale. Sorry, they became straight-up garbage, and the last film, Jigsaw, was a boring piece of cinematic stuff. It was straight-up trash. I was excited when a reboot starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson was announced. The trailer pulled me in, and I was looking forward to watching the film and seeing how a new spin on the series would be. I was disappointed in more ways than you can count and was left with a bag of dogshit on my doorstep.
Spiral begins some years after the death of Jigsaw. You never really know how many years have passed, but Jigsaw is dead and long gone. You don’t even know the year or if they are even in the same city, but whatever. This film revolves around brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Rock), who is working in the shadow of his father, an esteemed police veteran and former chief of police Marcus Banks (Jackson). During a 4th of July parade celebration, off-duty Detective Marv Bozwick chases a thief down a sewer drainpipe. Bozwick is attacked by a figure in a pig mask and soon finds himself suspended by his tongue with an oncoming train approaching. To free himself, he is given a choice of tearing out his tongue or being killed by the train. After a few seconds, Bozwick cannot free himself, and, well, the dude gets squashed like a bug against the train’s windshield. The next day, police Captain Angie Garza assigns Zeek, a rookie partner, to solve the case. Zeek had problems with his other officers as he seemed like a snitch, and no one trusted him. As the pair investigates, the murders become more gruesome, with a connection between them and the police department. Zeek soon finds himself at the center of the new game.
I want to start with the storyline because I thought it was okay. It revolved around the Jigsaw Killer targeting corrupt cops. I wouldn’t mind this too much with today’s environment. Each police officer that is killed or targeted has something they did wrong. Their trap was explicitly designed for them. The first cop was held by this tongue because he lied under oath. Another cop had his fingers ripped off as he refused to contact anyone for help. I think another one was shot as he killed an unarmed person. The story worked okay, but it was executed poorly and was a bore. We find out that the reason for the corruption was because of some law that gave the police power. Something like the “3 Strikes” law. People with power take it too far and then, years later, want to repent. The ending is one where you could see coming a mile away. There were zero twists or anything that would make you really think. This was one of the most predictable Saw films I have seen, and it was a major disappointment.
This brings me to Zeek. He was straight up AWFUL as he complained all the freakin time and seemed like the angry black man. As a black man, I was disappointed in this character. He seemed to complain about everything and was mad all the time. His backstory is interesting as he is the son of the former police chief. During a patrol, his fellow partner either shoots him, and NO ONE comes to help. I see why he is angry and doesn’t trust anyone around him because they did him dirty. Yet, it was over the top and took away from the movie. A cop gets killed, and he goes on this long tangent about how no one respects him or how his life is shit. It was way too much to deal with during this film and really took away from the entire movie.
The Saw franchise is known for the traps that they have. I don’t know if it was me, but the traps were simple but also boring. I don’t know if I am desensitized by the other movies, but the traps didn’t surprise me or make me feel that anyone would survive. The being held up by the tongue was interesting, along with the wax or glass trap. That is all they were interested in. The focus has become so much on the traps that you now have to have a freakin sick mind to make them or even come up with the idea.
The acting was all over the place and just awful. Chris Rock, you are better than this. It seemed like you played this character before in another film, and I wasn’t interested. Your stand-up was far better than this mess. All you did was complain about half the movie, which was all over the place. You are still one of my favorite actors and comedians but damn. Samuel L. Jackson, I was expecting more. When I mean more, you were only in the film for 10 minutes. You were one of the reasons I wanted to watch this film. I was expecting some hardcore muthaf**kin words out of your mouth. One second you held a gun, and then the next, you were gone and didn’t show up to the end. Keep collecting those checks.
Overall, this Saw film was GAME OVER on arrival. It is one of the worse films of the series, and Jigsaw should come back to life, look at it, and go, “What the f**k is this shit?!” I was expecting more and was completely let down. I hear that a 10th movie is about to be made. 10 freakin Saw films. It is like the Fast and Furious series. It should’ve stopped after 5 films.
