Saw X – Review

Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 58 minutes, Director – Kevin Greutert

After falling victim to a scam cancer treatment a dying John Kramer (Tobin Bell) puts those behind it through a series of painful life or death ‘games’

After almost 20 years the Saw franchise will seemingly still do anything to keep John Kramer somewhere in the picture. Whether it be through flashbacks or prequels it’s rare that Tobin Bell won’t be seen somewhere. In Saw X he’s at his most present as he sits and watches, and talks to, the victims of his latest life or death ‘games’ as they hack through their body parts in a fight for survival.

Those facing the elaborate traps this time have personally wronged Kramer after convincing him they would provide radical life-saving surgery to remove his stage 4 brain tumour. However, the surgery, as we learn in the lengthy first act which finds itself relatively void of much ‘Saw action’, turns out to be a scam, leading Kramer to seek revenge, and to teach what he sees as a lesson in the value of life. The traps are what we’re used to from this franchise, and to an extent once we get to them it’s more of the same. Yet, what prevents them from having the effect that they could have is the fact that the film spends so long telling us how bad the people facing them are.

Sympathy isn’t something the film seems to seek for the victims, no matter how much they plead their innocence. The same somewhat goes for Kramer as his own views are questioned and tested – especially when it comes to one victim facing drug addiction (Renata Vaca). However, this point is restricted to just one or two lines of dialogue with little else done about it, it’s straight back to the ensuing traps for each individual which has been locked in a Mexican warehouse. There’s some amusement to be found here and there, but with the chaptered nature of the stages there’s an occasional feeling that things are being drawn-out – at just short of two hours this is the longest Saw film to date.

While not amongst the worst in the franchise (Jigsaw) Saw X is one of the weaker entries. Generally watchable but not helped by its drawn-out stages as it attempts to delve into the mind of the Jigsaw Killer before jumping back into another pouring of blood, brains and bone marrow. The third act attempts to bring in some twist and heightened stakes – which have some effect in the final stages as the Saw theme finally kicks in with good impact – and it makes for a faster paced set of events with a more frantic feel not entirely present in the scenes before, despite the return of fast, flashbulb-like editing to introduce some of the ‘games’. Saw X might have its moments, but its also a longer version of more of the same.

There are amusing moments within Saw X’s chaptered events, however not enough to make for something properly effective throughout the occasionally drawn-out sequences which never truly delve into Jigsaw as much as they might want to.