Movie literally spends its entire runtime trying to explain itself to you and I still have no fuckin idea what's going on.
This feels more like a direct exploration of trying to recruit a new apprentice, with a good twist of the other apprentice at the end.
With the victims, i am really undecided whether they should be saved, or make them have the choice to save themself, for the horrible things they have done. It's got the best moral dilemmas in the entire movie series so far.
I like how there's a bit more talk about what Jigsaw is doing and the meaning of it. And a bit more of the media like when we saw that shot of the magazines and newspaper.
I like that they address how many detectives have died on the case.
It expands on John's wife and adds more to his backstory.
I like that Jeff's storyline was closed off succinctly, but it doesn't make a lot of sense because Jigsaw said he had a game for him, to save his daughter i guess.
It's all a bit contrived, but i like it. An underrated entry in the franchise.
This franchise should have ended with the third movie. This extension is only deteriorating the quality and good name that the previous films built.
Did I feel terror and despair? Yes, I felt it, but only coming from the screenwriter, who had to improvise a story and any ending.
One thing is certain: the film's violence is impressive and unforgettable, as previous films have already accustomed us to
I didn't find this as good as the previous titles, but I liked the way they surprised us by making Saw IV story happen in parallel with Saw III, I didn't saw this coming. Although it was pretty obvious that the detective was invoved in this all along, I guess it becomes harder and harder to add surprises after 3 movie installments, you already expects these kind of twists.
Convoluted tripe, Saw IV is a confusing and pointless entry into the series. After learning that missing police detective Eric Matthews is alive, Lieutenant Daniel Rigg attempts to save him by embarking on a series of trials that have been setup by Jigsaw to lead him to Matthews. Taking place concurrently with the last film, the series chronology gets really messy and hard to follow. Additionally, the characters aren’t that interesting, and neither are the stakes. Yet there are some clever plot twists and reveals that are quite shocking. Saw IV jumps the shark a bit, but it deserves some points for its attempt to do something bold and unconventional with the series mythology.
Rewatching Saw IV made me understand the story a bit better, I wasn't as confused at the end as last time I watched this. So that did help!
Anyway, this part of the story takes place at the same time as Saw III, so the ending of this one connects with the ending of part III. We follow Riggs as he is being tested by Jigsaw. And like every other victim of Tobin Bell, he didn't listen. But the route he takes during his test takes him to some brutal traps. The scalpel one with the blonde woman? That one was sick!
Anyway, at the end we learn that there is another Jigsaw disciple and the movie ends with another GAME OVER.
I enjoyed it.
While obviously it's sort of impossible to avoid utilizing elements of previous films in a long franchise, I felt like I watched this movie already with elements from the last three films. Boring and schlocky and utilizing the Saw tropes to the point of near parody. I dread what awaits me farther into this series.
Finishing the Saw series turned into a painful, meaningless task. I used to be have at least some chuckles when watching ooooh "shocking" scenes, stupid story, bad acting or Jig-cringe-fiesta-saw with his stupid monologues. Now I'm just sad.
Definitely the last one we saw originally viewing these as they came out. The 31 Days Of Horror continues...
As a diehard fan of the series, this has objectively always been the worst part of the initial series of Saw films (even if I still adore it!). Backed into a corner after Part III, this is where some liberties are taken to propel the story forward. While I can’t say it’s the most skippable (no Saw film is of the original seven), it’s the least impactful. It’s surely best suited to be seen as a filler episode in a binge of the whole series.
Rating: 2.5/5 - 70% - Worth Watching
The type of movie to make me go ‘you know, I was too hard on Saw 3’. That one at least had the trio of Amanda, Lynn, and John. This one trades it in for condescending disgust for altruism, for recovery clinics, for the idea that anyone can be helped. There’s no humanity to most of the victims, removing the most engaging aspect of the traps, and instead it is replaced for a Punisher like power fantasy of righteous punishment, once again the majority of the victims having no way to save themselves, to show who they are and what they do when faced with the impossible.
It’s gnarlier, at least, with some gore that makes me wince, but not always earned, like the miscarriage. It’s a wrinkle I don’t think John needed and risks being overboard melodrama, turning John into a sympathetic figure. What hells to stop that is Tobin Bell’s performance, who conveys that something was always underneath the affable surface. A sort of disdain, a geniality towards his fellow man that will only last until forced with his first tragedy. But the film doesn’t offer much of a reason for the franchise to exist outside of his performance, which is an obvious problem going forward. Trying to indoctrinate someone into being an apprentice is a good concept, but Riggs is flat as hell and never in danger of converting.
The twist is decent, but there’s also so little to Hoffman here. We were told nothing about him and little of his personality is shown here, so it doesn’t hit like it could. We have no idea of what his motivation could be. It’s all left for the sequels, leaving this movie’s ending a bit inert. It’s all a bit limp, really. It sticks with 3’s grimmer tone and again loses sight of the fun. None of the sequels so far have found the fun of 2, and they can’t be as underdog and fresh as 1 by nature. I hope the later ones do.
Not my first time to watch this but it really didn't make any more sense this time than the first time (or couple of times?) I've watched it. The traps were still "fun" (in a gruesome way) but not as elaborate and weren't given the time/duration to play out in full like they did in the predecessor, Saw III (i.e. you kind of got the gist of what was happening/going to happen but you didn't really SEE it happen, like the Rack Trap, the Pig Trap, the Venus Fly Trap, etc in the previous movies). Instead, you got a sort of teaser so you knew what was going to be the demise of the victim but you didn't really see anything happening. (Perfect example: I have no idea what happened to "Ivan" in the hotel, apart from the split-second that was shown. Same for the final scene in the "ice house".) To me, this installment was more confusing than enjoyable. I still don't understand how Strahm walked in on the crime scene at the conclusion of Saw III while Rigg was arriving at the "ice house" scene here. And how did "Jeff" (Angus MacFadyen) from Saw III sneak onto the set of Saw IV and see his wife get killed when that was (I thought?) all behind us. I still give it a "7" for the various traps but as I'm watching the entire franchise (again) in a build-up to Halloween this year, Saw IV has - so far - been the most confusing and therefore the biggest disappointment so far.
6.5/10
Fair enough
the games are just beginning.
Saw IV was a semi
interesting installment
and was better paced
than 1 and 3 but
the 2nd installment is
still the best one up till
this one.
this installment sets a decent
origin story up, that has a
pretty good sneaky end,
but getting there
(how would Jigsaw
put it, oh yeah
"you have to have patience").
Even though I'm watching
the unrated final cut versions
this franchise is so damn tame
and mild compared to today's
standards, up till now these
movies just aren't delivering
on the gruesome, Nasty
blood and guts and gore,
Filth and mess I love so
much from my Horrors.
back in the day these movies
were frickin awesome
and delivered on a promise
of torture porn for a modern
generation, but unlike
the phenomenal Outstanding
Scream franchise,
that has stood the test
of time, that still Knocks
out Banger after Banger
from it's franchise
(Scream 7 post production)
The Saw franchise is not ageing well at all and
up till this point they have
been more swing and miss
than hit.
How many more times
can I say, I want 8+ people
all cleverly interconnected
put through the
Meat grinder and left
looking like hamburger meat.
never mind all the over
Complicated BS that comes
with each installment,
Just "Billy" the Pupet
and Jigsaws monologue
at the end, done.
GAME OVER.......
And my 31 days of Horror
continues
"Today, we bring the ugliness inside of you, out into the open. You have to match your face with the ugliness of your soul."
Opens up with one of the best most realistic autopsy scenes i've seen. Awesome gore. As soon as the new narrative comes in though, you realize it's crap. The multiple storylines and timelines didn't work in this one and it doesn't know how to properly jump from one to the other, it's all jumbled up (like jigsaw puzzles that don't fit together) ha ha. The characters are also a miss and it doesn't help that our previous antagonists are dead, feels like the franchise died with them. The traps are lame compared to Saw II and Saw III, not as memorable and there's too many I feel like I could survive (I probably wouldn't). Anticlimactic third act and ending.
Traps Ranked (worst way to die order):
1. Bedroom Trap - that didn't look very pleasant. Eyes being run through with small knives, limbs being chopped off and a few stabbings
2. Spike Trap - no way out of that one and it's gotta hurt
3. Spine Cutters - never saw it happen but this kills you instantly for sure
4. Ice Block Trap - being hung basically. Most basic kill in a world such as Saw
5. Scalping Seat - never had long hair but that's gotta hurt. Doesn't kill you though
6. Knife Chair - nothing you can't heal from but i'll pass
7. Mausoleum - a twisted game but i'll take my chances (I rather have my mouth sewn shut)
In the Saw franchise, I always consider parts 3 to 5 as a unit, with the fourth one being the weakest for me personally. That's mainly because the traps are boring this time, and the main plot also becomes more and more bogged down in a lack of logic. At the same time, the film at least has a few interesting approaches. Above all, it is the first film since the first part where you don't know who the killer is. Only somehow you do know, because the resolution is far too obvious. The acting is again abysmal, except for Tobin Bell. Meanwhile, the editing is amateurish, and the script, including the usual "twist", is boring. Only the autopsy of John Kramer at the beginning is impressive. The rest is pretty lame.
“Time is an illusion that cannot be given.”
I am starting to realize that even though Jigsaw is dead (it's in the description), he will continue to haunt the next few movies haha. I like that that this goes after people who most likely deserve the punishment, but I am left wondering just how much free time he has to plan all of this.
Saw 4 is like Playboy magazine: it grossly overestimates how much we care about the stories and badly underestimates how much we need the images.
While the traps here are often well thought out, the movie focuses on so many flashbacks it nearly gave me seizures. Seriously, who in the hell watches Saw movies for the plot line?
Shout by AlexBlockedParent2016-08-22T04:01:30Z
Just so you don't go Googling it when you watch the movie: the autopsy is the ending, and the rest of Saw IV happens parallel to Saw III. Eh...I prefer the previous directors. The traps were gruesome, and the revelation at the end, in terms of Rigg, was astonishing. I'll give it a 6.