Kind of fun in a train crash way, but nothing of value beyond that. They set up an interesting meta commentary on Saw fans and possible Jigsaw defenders with the meeting only to drop it immediately. So much of the film is devoted to the weakest game in the series, with a bland protagonist, that Hoffman barely gets anything. Speaking of, I spoke fondly of the slasher influence some of these movies have, but you didn’t have to bring in the misogyny.

After a franchise that’s mostly been equal opportunity and detached identity wise, it’s like this film was written by the final victim of the carousel from the last one. The opening trap parades in it, with a cheating harlot in the most sexual outfit there’s ever been, boobs bulging boobily from her straps, and a woman was actually naked in one of these traps in 3. One trap is about how women just don’t shut the fuck up, with the protagonist screaming that at the victim after her death. The wife is literally called a trophy and killed off in a horrific way to hurt the protagonist. And Jill Tuck’s steely strength that complimented John’s is drained away to make her an utter damsel, reduced to screaming and begging and called a cunt while getting her face slammed into a table. It’s not pleasant viewing!

And that’s not getting into the weakest array of traps, the pink blood, the laughable 3D tells, the franchise worst performance of Gibson and that is a high bar to clear… and Gordon. Overestimating the importance and power of him without the emotional core of Adam, he’s just here to be the twist, and Elwes has never phoned it in harder. It cheapens what made the first film work- that bond between him and Adam- by suggesting he’d work with the man who ushered in his death. It’s hard to think of a level on which this film does work beyond marveling at the trainwreck. The franchise should’ve chronologically ended with 6, and the trap killing Hoffman, and in my heart that’s where it did.

The most traps we've had yet in a *Saw* movie and I enjoyed all of them. The quality for the effects wasn't as good as usual but it's still pretty good. The movie shines whenever there's a game on-screen, it really entertains and does it's job. Anytime there's no game and the story is brought to the forefront, I vomit. Absolutely awful! Barely any Tobin Bell as Jigsaw too. Dumb ridiculous twist that came out of nowhere, who even asked for this? Can we just scrap this story and go for something new??

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

[spoiler]1. *Brazen Bull* - not burning alive, but COOKING alive! Hot damn!
2. *Public Execution Trap* - a saw slowly cutting into your belly. That's got to be one of the worst pains imaginable
3. *Fishing Line Trap* - you have to pull out a fishing hook from your stomach to your mouth. Absolutely horrible. I rather die
4. *Horsepower Trap* - this one was epic! They were all in a bad spot
5. *Impalement Wheel* - three spikes running through your eyes and mouth. Only lasts for a few seconds until you die but outch
6. *Lawnmower Trap* - falling on a bunch of lawnmowers. Not quite an instant death
7. *Reverse Bear Trap 3.0* - third time's the charm. Great gore. Instant death
8. *Pain Train* - a blade in front of a train, running you over. Looked like instant death but the effects were bad for this one
9. *Hangman's Noose* - instant death
10. *Wisdom Teeth Combination* - pulling out your wisdom teeth. Fuck no! At least i'm not eligible anymore. Doesn't kill you though
11. *The Hooks* - inserting two hooks into your skin, pulling yourself up after. Not the worst thing, considering
12. *Suspended Cage* - wouldn't want to fall on those spikes. I don't think it kills you though[/spoiler]

A terrible ending to a legendary saga. Nearly everything from the previous six movies, let alone _Saw VI_, is dropped to make this as much as a self-contained movie as possible. Dr. Gordon is introduced in the opening scene, we see Jill put Hoffman in the Reverse Bear Trap from the end of _Saw VI_, and there is a group of survivors from Jigsaw's previous traps that are nothing but cameos. Every other character in this film is new and exists to be killed off sometime later. No character development, no emotional attachments for anyone, nothing for the viewer to feel. The characters have as much build up as a character from any _A Nightmare on Elm Street_, _Friday the 13th_, or _Halloween_ film has. What the producers had made was as close to a generic slasher as a Saw film can be. In short, this film was made for the casual audience who came to see a 3D horror movie, not the fans who followed the series since the beginning. If there's still any doubt about this claim, producer Mark Burg even said in an interview with Reuters that "even new viewers will be able to follow and get caught up to speed."

So what exactly makes this film so bad besides essentially making it a standalone? As mentioned above, the characters are cardboard cutouts of previous characters. The "game" here is modeled after Jeff's game from _Saw III_, but there is no emotional attachment that can be seen on the screen. Whereas Jeff had to burn his son's possessions to get a key in Judge Halden's trap, everyone in this game is just a person Bobby works with. He has no real connection to them, and it can be seen on screen that these people don't affect him the way judge who gave a light sentence to a murderer, a drunk driver who killed a child, or a woman who saw it all and did nothing do to the man whose life was ruined by them. Jeff had rage and hatred in his heart. Bobby has nothing. To add to this, the traps are some of the worst in the series. One of them resembles a machine at my gym, complete with weights. All the creators did for this was add a woman who will be killed by three attached spears if Bobby fails to hold the weights up for long enough. Another trap would kill someone in real life if attempted to even try and save the victim. A trap near the end was an idea for _Saw IV_ that was rejected.

To add to how poor this game is made, it barely serves any point to the plot. It _does_ have a little bit of a point, but it could have been rewritten to have much more meaning than it does. As it is, it's 95% an excuse to do two things: (1) have people in traps and die and (2) help the film reach its 90 minute runtime. The characters are hollow and flat, the traps are poorly designed and even illogical, and the game serves no major purpose for the film's main plot of Hoffman chasing after Jill for trying to kill him at the end of the previous film. Adding further insult, the characters in the game haven't done anything actually evil. None of them killed anyone, none of them ruined anyone's life, none of them tried ending their own lives. Their crime is promoting Bobby Dagen as a Jigsaw survivor when he, in fact, is not. Jigsaw goes after people who have done something morally evil. One of the characters in the game is Bobby's wife who is not even _aware_ his story of being a survivor is a lie. That doesn't follow Jigsaw's philosophy, and no point for this is ever made. It is merely bad writing.

To end it all, the film concludes with a "twist" that was literally predicted by a fan on the now-defunct House of Jigsaw web forum back in 2005 with the release of _Saw II_. This movie has no director's cut as the extreme script changes and producer interference made everyone involved from director Kevin Greutert to writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan want to finish this project and get away from it as soon as possible. This movie is simply a standalone movie for casual moviegoers and is an insult to the fanbase who has spent money over the past years on merchandise, movie tickets, DVDs/BDs, music, and more. However, I will end this review on a positive note as there are a few good notes about this film.

Kevin's directing, despite being forced by a contractual clause in an effort to derail _Paranormal Activity 2_, is still solid. His mastery of the craft is evident with the garage trap (feat. the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park) and the way the camerawork adds to the intensity of the scene, added to by the wonderful score of Charlie Clouser. This also applies to the opening trap of the film known as the public trap. These are the only two traps really worth watching, although the final one is sometimes fun to watch as well and _not_ for its terrible 3D effect of blood coming at the camera. If this is your first time watching _Saw 3D_, make your expectations as low as possible. It might reduce the sting of how horrifically this ends this saga in the series.

WELL, IT WAS NICE TO SEE THE GOOD DOCTOR BACK ,
SORT OF AND ALTHOUGH THIS ONE MAY NOT BE MY FAVOURITE ARE THE BEST ONE STILL IT WENT OFF WITH A BANG TO FINISH. THE TRAPS WERE BRUTAL AND BLOODY WELL SOME ONE GOT THE DIY WRONG ARE PUT MORE ARE LESS OF SOMETHING IN IT THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE COS THAT WAS SOME FUNKY LOOKING BLOOD, LIKE ONE DOWN FROM CGI BLOOD
LOOKED SHOCKING. BUT I LOVED THE MESS THIS MOVIE DID TO EVERYONE BUT I MUST ADMIT THAT WITH THE STRING AND FISHHOOK GOT ME MOST OF ALL, MADE ME SQUIRM THAT DID,
WOW...JUST...WOW...
PACING WAS GOOD ENOUGH AND THE PLOT TWIST I NEVER SAW haha COMING.
HOFFMAN YOU SLIPPERY LITTLE BASTARD. THE WRITING WAS RATHER LAZY AND MOST PEOPLE ANNOYED ME TO THERE DEATHS. THE TRAPS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER AND MUCH MORE INTERESTING BUT THEN AGAIN HE WAS NEVER AS PROFESSIONAL ARE AS IMAGINATIVE ARE SKILLED AS JIGSAW WAS, YOU HAVE TO USE TEMPERED STEEL YOU KNOW. BUT LAST 30MINS WERE PRETTY AWESOME TBH
AND IT DEFINITELY GOT DIALED TO UP 11. TO ROUND IT ALL UP I THOUGHT THEY DID A GOOD JOB AT KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER, Hm mostly.
KUDOS TO THEM AND FOR THE AND THE SERIES GETS A
10/10.
for the final time......
"GAME OVER"
door slams closed.......
Opens again only on a Reboot