The brutal beauty of Jigsaw returns. After watching all of the _Saw_ franchise, I wasn't expecting a lot out of this one but wow!...was I surprised, and in a good way! Tobin Bell plays much more of a central role here, as he did primarily in _Saw II_. And he plays his part beautifully, as does his cohort/disciple "Amanda" (played by Shawnee Smith). Absolutely brilliant story that was ENHANCED by the traps, rather than being obscured (or worse, ignored) by them. In this probably-not-the-final installment, the traps only served to make the story better, rather than **becoming** the story. Conned by a team who claim to have a miraculous (yet not approved of by the FDA because of deep pockets in the pharmaceutical lobbies) cure for his cancer, John realizes he's been duped and, in typical Jigsaw fashion, sets out not to avenge himself, but to "teach" these people that it's not nice to take advantage of others' misfortunes. And he does so in a brilliant, grisly, gruesome way that will have you high-fiving your friends as you enjoy the carnage. On a trivial note, the poster art is kind of ... well, it's somewhat inaccurate. I kept hoping for the actual X and was just slightly disappointed when they didn't actually incorporate the X. (Watch the movie and you'll understand what I mean.) _Saw X_ returns to the brilliance of the original, and IMO surpasses _Saw II_ as far as storyline. The entire film felt like it was based on an actual STORY, and not just several _"How can we make the traps even more wicked?"_ ideas with a loose thread running through it. This definitely serves as my favorite in the franchise, second only to the original. Oh, and be sure to watch through the end credits!

Honestly? This is one of the best entries in the Saw saga... and that is saying A LOT, considering the mess that the Saw saga has been.

First, it's a story that follows John Kramer's storyline in it's entirety, focused on his devilish game against a group of con artists that truly deserve what happens to them. (And you can't even try to like these a-holes.)

Tobin Bell proves that the notorious Jigsaw killer has more tricks up his sleeve and shows us his most personal game in the franchise. Amanda Young's return and her dialogues with John are a perfect relief to the grotesque imagery that we have come to recognize in the Saw films, but this time, the effects are better and bloodier. With clever twists, a vicious set of new traps, a surprising antagonist in Synnøve Macody Lund's character and the glorious return of the Zepp theme taken into new hights courtesy of Charlie Clouser's score... Saw X may be a prequel to all the messy sequels that followed the original classic, but Is a promising return to form that has given the saga a new chance to keep the game going.


Also, I feel weird by not feeling bad about ANY of the other characters and their fates in the movie, like, they all could choke for trying to mess with good old' John... but to involve a child in their buffoonery? Electric chair, to all of them. PERIOD.

>*"We have a rope!"*

Favorite of the franchise! ***Saw X*** takes you back to the good old days, when John Kramer and Amanda were still alive. *Saw III* was my favorite up to this point because of these two characters, the traps were the best, it had the best story overall and the twist was a surprising one. ***Saw X*** beats *Saw III* in all these aspects!

It had a bit of a rough start with the first act, felt like not much was happening but it's the best character setup we've had for John Kramer in ten movies. I can now say I know the character and see where he's coming from. Amanda had a better story in *Saw III* though but I still highly appreciate her presence. You'd think that those two make for enough villains for one movie but no, the crown goes to Dr. Pederson, I loved hating her.

They outdid themselves with the gore and blood with this one! So much blood! Some of the best most visceral traps in the franchise, the Brain Surgery and Wire Saw made me turn away and it takes a lot for me to do that but I also had a huge smile on my face.

Probably my favorite twist in the franchise yet, it isn't as over-the-top as some others we've seen in the franchise but it's totally plausible for once. Not too many flashbacks either, *Saw III*'s third act had way too many. Third act, ending and mid-credit scene were all amazing. I'm already excited for *Saw XI*. I kinda hope Dr. Pederson is still alive and having Kramer, Amanda and Hoffman reunited for another movie is reason enough to be excited!

---

**Traps Ranked** (worst way to die order):

1. *Brain Surgery* - drill a hole into your skull and take out a part of your brain, if not you get your face burned off. I choose to die with my face burning!
2. *Wire Saw* - best gore trap! You have to cut your own leg, put a pump to suck out the blood + head chopped off if you can't do it. You pass out before finishing this for sure!
3. *Eye Vacuum* - five fingers being broken + the eye vacuum. I would have broken those fingers with no hesitation, eyes are too damn precious
4. *Pipe Bomb* - cut out bombs from both your arms before they explode. I don't think you can realistically cut out the second one
5. *Radiation Lamp* - I don't know what's worse, your skin burning or having to break your foot and hand with a hammer
6. *Gas Chamber* - gas that burns your skin
7. *Bloodboarding* - drowning in blood basically. Best option considering the other traps

9/10
Superb
With such a hit and miss
franchise this X installment
is one of the best entries
yet. Set Inbetween
Saw and Saw II we have
our most intimate
time with our favourite
Life Coach
to date.
The first act was slow
like slow to a crawl and
it definitely started to
Lose me, (I was fading
fast). It was all a little
soft and safe for my
liking but I know after
I own this on Blu Ray
and multiple watches
I will appreciate this
First Act more knowing
the Carnage to come later.
Then Boom our
Man "with a particular
set of skills" happens
and everything in this
movie
changes as in
Now your in the Shit,
everything gets
Dialed up to 11.
I SAW one of the best
and brutal limb separation
which was probably my
favourite scene,
Now that was done with
Conviction and I loved
every second of it.
Billy the Puppet
made a Cameo
and was back looking
Creepy AF again.
was it a perfect movie
No certainly not,
Everyone was looking
way older than they should
for the timeline
(but I will allow that),
I wasn't completely
Sold on the ending and
the fact that nothing
was confirmed,
(I wanted assurance).
but I get why John
went that way as of
his motivations in
this installment,
because I understand it
though I don't agree
(Everyone got worse
for less).
Also we didn't get the
Iconic "GAME OVER"
door shuts (I love
that, and looked forward
to it past 6 times),
instead this is the first
ever installment we
get a door opening.
I really appreciate though
how they've tied this
installment straight to
SAW VI with where
John goes too and
who he is interacting with.
I love how you can win
again because that
Slippery Bastard
Hoffman isn't rouge
yet.
Verdict:
Saw II will always
be my favourite
everything just worked
in that but SAW X
has quickly become
a personal favourite
of the entire series,
The feelings of how
this installment makes
You Care is the best
of the entire franchise,
something I didn't believe
these movies could ever
do was make me care
and also feel genuine
worry.
Up until this movie I
thought this franchise
was almost dead and buried
and unlike "Scream"
that definitely has
another 10yrs and more
movies
The "Saw" franchise
would have been
lucky to get one more
movie out after how
boring and outdated
this franchise has
become,
(unlike Scream the
Saw franchise has
not aged well
at all).
But Saw X
shows that they
are back going in
the right direction
because this installment
was well throughout
and pretty fcuking
Awesome really.

SAW X
keeps the door open
on the franchise and
it has made sure that
it's not
"GAME OVER"

(just yet).

>"I'd like you to meet the team"
>[Pans to a small child kicking a football against the side of a building]

I feel absolutely gaslit by the internet on this one. While I enjoyed the return of lofi traps over the extravagent, over-the-top machines they became later in the series, Saw X is absolute drivel and feels like it was written by ChatGPT. Outside of a few John and Amanda scenes which scratched my nostalgia itch for this franchise, this has little to no redeeming qualities that I can think of; it's just all so awful. The Mexico-yellow filter, Amandas comical wig, the truly awful dialogue, the song and dance they perform to pull off a twist with this threadbare plotline. I say this as someone that has a soft spot for Saw 1 - 6, this might be up there with 7 onwards in terms of how bad it is. I really thought after all the positive buzz on here and review aggragator websites that this might be a return to form for the franchise, but it seems I set my expectations a little too high.

Just watch Saw 1 - 3 again and pretend like nothing else was made after those. Trust me.