Saw V (2008)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Don't Believe the Hype

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Following Jigsaw's grisly demise, Mark Hoffman is commended as a hero, but Agent Strahm is suspicious, and delves into Hoffman's past. Meanwhile, another group of people are put through a series of gruesome tests. Saw V once again feels like the same bad film than most of the Saw installments were plus i haven't seen a worse ending in my entire life than this. This franchise loves to kill the hero and it knows it and unfortunately it also kills any excitement for me to actually enjoy this movies as well. Skip Saw 5 by any way as possible as you can. (0/10)

Jigsaw and Amanda, are dead. But the games continue. Five supposed strangers find themselves in the midst of a game, and believe they are in a survival of the fittest competition. Via his video linked puppet, Jigsaw conveys the message that they should ignore their instincts. Meanwhile, agent Strahm wants to prove that Hoffman is an apprentice to Jigsaw, and pursues him as he continues his twisted games. What Strahm does not know is that Hoffman is testing him, and must pass his test in order to stay alive......After the third (and the weakest of the series) film, it's best to watch all of the films back to back, otherwise you will lose the will to live watching them once a year. Which is why the films dwindled at the box office with each instalment, you really had to be on your toes with this franchise.This harks back to the second movie, with another group of people being offed one by one in more and more grisly ways, and they are your atypical bunch of people who annoy and endear in equal measures.Between this part of the plot, we have Strahm trying to nail Hoffman to the crimes, but the way Mandylor walks really deters from this aspect of the films narrative. It's as if he's desperate to go to the bathroom.It's a so so entry to the franchise, and it really grates when the film goes back to seeing Angus Macfaydan getting shot for the umpteenth time.Do not see it as a standalone movie.

After escaping from his lair, a detective begins an investigation into the connection behind the traps which leads to the true identity of Jigsaw's disciple who is out conducting another game and must race to save them before the game is finished.This one was better than the others, and right now is the one that can be tolerated more than the others. What really helps here is that there's plenty of fun and exciting traps here delivering solid and brutal gore scenes here that are certainly up among the series' best. The opening pendulum set-up is quite brutal and somewhat chilling here with the slowly-lowering blade drawing some nice tension in here, while the main game that plays out here is filled with several awesome traps and set-ups here. The opening in the room where they have the collars attached to the blades to decapitate them when the timer runs out is a fun game, the search for the keys in the jars before the bomb goes off is a nice, frantic race which is quite suspenseful, while the final two set at the end in the electrical wiring room and the razor contraption are some really impressive ones that are more important here in detailing how the game plays out which is the most impressive parts here. How they get to the gradual realization of their connection to each other makes for a really enjoyable time here which is not only given a nice reasoning but unfurls at a rather nice time here with the resolutions coming off rather well. The last plus here is the final twist which is a bit of a shock that is about as good as the first one was that manages to get several plot points tied together from the past into a fantastic effort overall. These points here hold this one up, while it's still pretty terrible. The biggest issue here with this one is a problem that's plagued the rest of the series as it's still utterly irritating and annoying as the flashbacks are just not so interesting throughout here with the continued clarifications and spelling out what happened in previous installments here being just not in the slightest bit interesting. As well, the detective investigating what we already know and taking up a ton of time on that issue alone simply combing through police files and reports is just absolutely dull as there's simply a ton of rifling around here where nothing much becomes of these scenes beyond merely confirming what's already known the whole time here by finally unveiling the true disciple here that becomes the whole point of the investigation. That's wholly boring here simply using all this time here on this one issue. The only other small flaw here is the fact that the rather lame ending to the game's set-up, which gets pushed aside to the back as the main focus shifts to the other plot-lines and feels quite a bit of a cheat considering how good the game here actually was. While this wasn't as flat-out terrible as the others, it's definitely up to a somewhat respectable status.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.

Jigsaw is dead. Does he have another apprentice to carry on his brand of bloody judgement? Will there be more elaborate traps to test the human condition to the max? You betcha.If you are a fan of the series, and chances are that if you have sat down to watch this latest part then you must be, this one has enough about it to tickle the senses. Yet there's no getting away from the familiarity breeding contempt factor, narratively it offers nothing new, and irritatingly it becomes quite evident that it's obviously setting up the next film in the series. It's a sad state of affairs when the flashbacks involving Tobin Bell (Jigsaw) prove to be the film's only strengths, well there is the death traps to keep us awake I suppose... 4/10