REVIEWS
Seven years on from his ‘final’ chapter, serial killer-with-adifference Jigsaw makes a not-sosurprising comeback – or does he?
Part of the intrigue behind the eighth Saw movie is whether Tobin Bell’s moral madman is truly back from the dead, or if we are now dealing with a copycat.
Needless to say, you will not find the answer to that question here; all I will reveal is that we are once again presented with another group of questionable characters being put through a series of deadly games while a police and forensic team investigate a grisly body count.
Writing duo Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (Piranha 3D, Sorority Row) are clearly fans of the Saw franchise as they know exactly what their audience wants, but fail to add much in the way of freshness or originality to the franchise.
The Spierig Brothers – who previously helmed creative sci-fi Predestination and disappointing vampire actioner Daybreakers – also shoot in a perfunctory style lacking in the series’ trademark rock video-like aesthetics and editing.
Beyond Jigsaw’s minor one-scene upgrade from cassette tapes to a USB and an ill-advised late use of CGI blood and gore, there’s not much to differentiate between this and the first Saw film back in 2004.
But, as a fan of much of the franchise, it