This is a Saw that finally carves its own identity that isn’t the griminess of III-V and matches 1’s scrappy thriller and 2’s campy slasher-thriller hybrid. And it does that by being the most political one yet, finally turning John’s scathing and condescending eye onto deserving targets: health insurance agents and the healthcare system. The disdain that runs through this franchise hits so much better here- even if it gets slightly tripped up in the usual hypocritical judgement with the janitor who smoked- and Outerbridge is just what the film needed. He makes William human and surprisingly multi-faceted- charming and sympathetic on the personal scale, even self sacrificing. But able to detach himself from the decisions he makes in the macro. It makes the ending tragic yet arguably deserving- while he pleads for the family he ruined to forgive him, he doesn’t say sorry. There is the palpable threat he’d still use the power of this corrupt system and absolve himself of responsibility, claim that he and it are nothing like Jigsaw and these games as he does in the hanging scene. And the traps are not only fun and visceral, but all serve as a reflection of these themes and as a metaphor for the damage and logic William and the system he’s a part of have.

On top of that, Hoffman continues to win me over. He has that dog in him. He has none of the philosophy or tragedy John and Amanda did, no pretensions. He is what he is and he’ll survive by any means necessary; it is in his nature. He, like Xavier in II, is just a straight up horror villain of the 80s slasher or thriller variety. And the catty family drama of him, Amanda, and John is a treat even for the one scene it has.

The best thing about this one is it finds the fun in Saw again, while saying something more. It results in a film that stands right beside the first two, and has a fair claim to being the best. A grand achievement for a sixth film in a franchise.

Still continuing my trek through the entire _Saw_ franchise as a lead-up to Halloween this year (2023). Seems like we went from a drought of traps in _Saw V_ to an overabundance of them here in _Saw VI_ . Not necessarily a "bad" thing (most of the traps here were pretty awesomely gruesome and violent) but in a sense, it almost detracted from the "story" that was supposed to be unfolding. _Saw VI_ almost seems preoccupied with fast-forwarding through the story in a rush to get the viewer to the next "trap", instead of incorporating the multiple traps into the story itself, as was so beautifully done in _Saw_ , _Saw II_ , and _Saw III_ . As I mentioned in my review of _Saw V_ , it seems _Saw VI_ follows the same hobbled attempt to simply outdo (and granted, it did) the cruelty and brutality of its preceding film. Instead of building a great STORY, the writers/producers built better traps and stapled the _Saw_ brand on it in an effort to continue building on the franchise that's gotten them this far. Kind of disappointing because there's not much substance AT ALL here (in the way of story). Additionally, the acting was - with the exception (of course) of Tobin Bell - subpar at best. The most painful (and I don't mean "trap" painful; I'm referring to the horrid acting) to watch was Peter Outerbridge (as "William") not even able to sell any kind of emotion in watching his own staff and colleagues being decimated. The "maze" that his legal secretary is caught in should have at least elicited some sobbing, crying, horror-stricken grief at what had just happened but he couldn't even sell that. Not even close. Not much better can be said for any of the rest of the cast here; some of them seemed like they were either phoning it in or were just more interested in getting their face in a movie that had a chance at being seen. The acting was really a disappointment here.

That being said, however, if you're looking for gruesome and "blood and gore", this one will probably rank as one of your favorites, at least as far as the _Saw_ franchise goes. It actually borders on the ridiculous, however. [spoiler] How can a man get his entire body, vital organs an all, pumped full of hydroflouric acid (and according to some sources, HF acid is not nearly as corrosive as the film depicted but since I'm not a chemical engineer I couldn't attest to that) yet remain not merely alive but completely coherent while his internal organs are dissolving and his body "melts in half"?[/spoiler] I did like the way this one ended, however, as it leads us into our continuing journey along this macabre pathway of psychotic bedlam. To coin a phrase, _"Let the games continue..."_

PS: Betsy Russell (aka "Jill Tuck" in the films) appears, from her head shot, to be an attractive woman; I'm wondering if she deliberately chose to wear black contacts or something in these films because her eyes just totally creep me out. Yuck... She looks like a corpse trying to force a smile. Yeesh...

*Saw: Coworkers Edition*

Killer opening scene, one of my favorites. The games are back to the level of *Saw II* and *Saw III*. Actual well-thought out games, none of them were lame. Having it not focus on John as much actually felt refreshing, I like Hoffman he turned into a badass at some point during the movie. His Dexter situation was the best storyline of the movie. It was nice seeing those flashbacks of John's acolytes interacting with each other, seeing the jealousy and potencial backstabbing. Wanted to see more of Amanda and Hoffman together. William is a meh character, not one that fits in the protagonist role. Some really awful acting once again, the worst was the kid. Really liked the third act and for once, i'm curious to see what happens in the next episode.

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

[spoiler]1. *Acid Injectors* - acid is a no no! Definitely the worst. It's gotta hurt a lot more than what the lame actor was portraying
2. *Pound of Flesh* - awesome gore and game. I wouldn't be able to do it. Those screws look like the better option
3. *Oxygen Crusher* - getting your abdomen crushed every time you take a breath. Don't smoke guys
4. *Shotgun Carousel* - instant death but the panic of knowing you're probably next + the coworkers yelling at each other
5. *Reverse Bear Trap 2.0* - no upgrade, just the same old
6. *The Gallows* - getting hung with barbed wire. Almost instant death
7. *Steam Maze* - not that bad, considering. I'd choose this over a lot of the other games[/spoiler]

The Jigsaw Killer may be dead but the murders still continue...

So where were we at now then? Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is still continuing to do the bloody work of the dead John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell). In his sights is William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), an unfeeling insurance head who turned down claims by Kramer and a myriad of others on pathetic technicalities. Cue more elaborate traps, painful decisions and some twisty devilment. Yep! It's another Saw movie.

Somewhat surprisingly, part 6 is a step up in quality of writing and ingenuity of gore/trap factors from the previous two installments. It's still very much old hat as a formula, and once again the sequences of Bell used in flashback show him to be the franchise's strength. However, the makers put at the core an insurance issue that everyone can identify with, whilst piling on mystery and suspense by way of Jigsaw's left envelopes and the FBI closing in on an increasingly overt confident Hoffman. 7/10