The film everyone is talking about finally made its way to UK cinemas this weekend and you better believe the hype as this film is so clever you won’t believe it!!
As the film started it held my interest but by the halfway point it was looking as though the film was another ‘Open Water’ (ie a film that gets huge hype but disappoints when you finally see it). The film managed to recover with a sudden burst of adrenaline and ended up being the smartest film I have seen all year!!
Many have argued that the film is ugly and amateur looking and I can see why. Watching Saw you can tell that it is a debut feature, not just because of the occasional editing or scripting flaw, but because it breaks all the rules and that is something that ‘safe’ Hollywood filmmakers would never dare to do.
The acting is quite weak here from most of the cast, Danny Glover was silly and Cary Elwes slipped into the realms of Ye Olde English theatre more than once and co-star and co-writer Leigh Whannell was off a lot of the time as well, although he more than made up for it in a truly comical scene that involves some purposeful over acting.
The reason that the critics and fans alike, have gone mental for Saw is that it contains at its centre an amazingly simple yet elaborately executed story that amazes and mesmerises.
Ask any filmmaker what makes a good movie and they’ll tell you a good story and a good script. If you have these ingredients people will hopefully overlook the weaker aspects and flaws and in the case of Saw you will.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I can count on one hand the number of truly great films that I have seen this year and Saw is one of them. Go to the cinema without knowing anything other than the basic plot outline and go home in awe. I was going to give Saw a rating of 3 stars until the final act assaulted my senses and left me gasping for air, gaining the honour of 5 stars in the process.
