We return once again to the Saw franchise, where we've now reached the fourth film in the series; the appropriately-named Saw IV. But at the end of the last film, Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda both ended up very dead, so where can the series go now?
John Kramer, the Jigsaw killer, is dead. We know this for certain because we get to see his autopsy right at the start of the film. But if Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda Young are dead, then who is the wax-coated tape found in his stomach for? And just who is orchestrating the new tests? This time around SWAT commander Lieutenant Rigg (who we've seen in both Saw II and III) is our protagonist being tested, as Jigsaw and/or his mystery successor try to impress upon him the importance of not rushing into things and that he can't save everyone (an odd lesson to try to teach a police officer). Connected in some way to this is Detective Eric Matthews, still alive after six months being held by Jigsaw and now placed in a new trap as part of Rigg's game. At the same time Detective Hoffman (introduced in Saw III) and two FBI agents are investigating Detective Kerry's death (which also happened in Saw III) and come to the conclusion that there was another person involved and therefore that Jigsaw has another assistant, but as the FBI continues to investigate Hoffman also finds himself trapped with Matthews. As all these games and investigations become more and more entangled we also learn more about John Kramer and the events that led him to become Jigsaw, and that nothing is what it seems...
Now this is where things really start to get complicated, both in terms of plot twists and moral philosophy. The idea that Jigsaw had more than one person helping him isn't all that surprising when you think about it for more than a couple of minutes, but at the same time, it's all muddied up by the fact that there are a lot of suspects. The only thing we can be sure of is that it's most probably someone we've already met, because to introduce an entirely new character into the mix and make them a key player at this point in the series would be an egregious narrative sin and would rightly cause much popcorn to be thrown at the screen. The revelation that most of the events of Saw III and IV are happening at more or less the same time also serves to make it hard for us to untangle all of this.
(Of course, if you've followed the series before then you already know who the "new" Jigsaw is, but for the sake of this review series let's keep pretending that we don't know for now.)
The moral messages in Jigsaw's games and indeed the Saw movies, in general, have become increasingly more defined and specific by Saw IV as well. In this film, possibly more than the others, there's a very clear theme of crime and punishment running through it, and it's rather a draconian theme as well. There's also more of the Darwinianism we've seen running through the entire series - for the most part, the people in the traps have to save themselves in order to survive; to prove that they are strong enough to be worthy of survival/that they can accept their punishment and move on. There are other things to be noticed as well, however. Remember in the Saw III review, when I mentioned John Kramer's slight hypocrisy in the case of Jeff Denion. The whole point of his tests for Jeff was to teach him to move on from his son's death... and yet in this movie, we see that Kramer's first victim is, in fact, the man responsible for the death of his unborn son. (More evidence for my, "It was the brain tumour causing him to do these things," theory.)
Another thing that's become increasingly clear (to me at least) is that Jigsaw's lessons don't actually seem to work. Amanda, his first apprentice, couldn't follow his philosophy. Eric Matthews couldn't stay calm and control his temper (twice). Jeff Denion learned nothing about forgiveness and letting go. And Rigg is supposed to learn patience and that he can't save everyone... so what do you think the outcome of his test will be? Basically, what I'm saying is that Jigsaw might have been better off doing motivational seminars instead of death traps.
And of course, there are the traps. As ever, they're the usual mix of cringe-inducing body horror and "gorn" - someone has to stab their own eyes our or be ripped limb by limb; someone else is nearly scalped - that watchers of the series have learned to expect from the Saw movies. The traps are now very much setpieces in the movie that the rest of the film gets to work around, but they are impressive and well-thought out enough that those who are watching for the most cerebral elements aren't really going to be too bothered. Saw IV still manages to surprise people by coming up with a way to continue the series even after its antagonist is well and truly dead.
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