SAW IV

You think it's over just because I am dead.  It's not over. The games have just begun.
Well, yeah Jigsaw, actually I did think it was over.  Why?  Because you died!  The cancer didn't get you, but a vengeful Jeff with a circularl saw sure did.  Ok so now we have a series whose main character is dead.  Where do we go from here?  I got it!  He set a bunch of traps that operate independent of one another, he doesn't have to be there right?  Right?  How many more people could a cancer patient and former junkie  could kidnap?   Enough for 3 more movies....perhaps.  Remember how part III flashbacked (yeah it's a verb) through 2 films and filled in some back story about Jigsaw along the way?  Maybe this film will give us more info about Jigsaw (it does) and fills in more of the holes left by the first 3 films (it does....sort of).  Ladies and gentlemen we have all heard of the flashback.  We have heard about the flashforward.  Saw IV introduces us to the FLASHSIDEWAYS!  Still with me?  Hang in there readers because I actually really like this one too.

On to the synopsis: So Saw IV begins where Saw III left off- the killer know as Jigsaw is dead.  Don't believe it?  Witness his autopsy.  By the way the autopsy is pretty awesome.  It's a basic procedural, i.e. disgusting and graphic, but it looked like any of the autopsies you can check out on A&E or Discovery Health.  Guess what the autopsy reveals?  1. Jigsaw is dead. 2. He swallowed a tape.  Of course he swallowed a tape.  Detective Hoffman (remember him? that's ok nobody really does) is called to listen.  In the tape Jigsaw announces that his work will continue.  FADE TO BLACK.  That means we go backwards or forwards in time right?  Wherever/ whenever we are the SWAT team is once again doing their thing.  Remember Commander Rigg from II and III?  Well part IV is his movie.  The team finds Kerry's remains and Riggs breaks protocol and rushes in.  Detective Hoffman (part III background filler) gives him a dusting down about rushing to save people.  While Rigg and Hoffman argue the FBI shows up.  Agent Perez and Agent Straham.  They are looking for Jigsaw's accomplice.  You, know the other one (whaa...?) As Straham points out, the duo of Jigsaw and Amanda couldn't have gotten Kerry up into that rig.  Common sense stuff right?  I actually really liked that.  In the middle of a series involving drugging, kidnapping, engineering traps, thousands in real estate, video equipment, and that creepy puppet, someone says "hey you need muscle to pull this off....where's the muscle?"  As the FBI hunt for the other other accomplice Rigg finds himself in his own game.  Once again these traps involve other people, either let them die, or try saving them.  If Rigg makes it through his game he will find the long suffering Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg and his ankle are back!). On top of these two storylines we get even more back story on Jigsaw.  We get to see his first victim. Did you know Jigsaw had a wife?  Did you know she ran a health clinic?  Did you know almost everyone who went to the clinic has woken up in front of a TV with a muppet telling them about the choices they will have to make?
(SHOWN: socialized medicine. C'mon I'm kidding. Back to the horror blog ;-)

It's been a while since I've watched this movie.  I liked it much more than I remembered.  Showing the main character on a slab from the the first scene is a really interesting way to start a movie.  Now on to the twist: Saw IV should have been called Saw III&1/2.  The events in this movie take place PARALLEL to the events in part III.  There are a few hints especially near the end.  This movie cannot stand on its own.  The first two movies and to a degree the third, can stand alone.  Not this movie.   You have to have seen the first 3 movies to understand anything going on in this one.  When Jeff shows up, it's jarring.  We've been following the dude from Gilmore Girls and Rigg as they wander around a warehouse and then BAM! Crazy goatee man comes out of nowhere.  However I suppose if you buy a ticket to the fourth film in a franchise, you've seen the first three.  I'm ok with that.  Another fun thing that the Saw movies play with is the timeline.  This seems to make a lot of fans angry, but I liked that idea of going back to the previous film and showing something going on around those events.  You see Jigsaw's ideology unfold in this film.  His wife spent her life trying to save people and he supported her until knife-face up there gave her a miscarriage.  Jigsaw realizes that you can't save anyone.  They have to save themselves.  This is the lesson he  wants Rigg to learn.  Something I really like about this series is the way the characters rotate in and out of Jigsaw's games.  Rigg has been in these films since part II.  Two films later he is the star.  I figure by part 7 or 8 the guy in charge of the evidence room at the police station will be the star.  You really feel for the guy.  All his friends have fallen victim to the same criminal AND his wife leaves him.  Ultimately, since he can't learn to let go he make this happen:

 BUMMER  

Now the accomplice:  Detective Hoffman.  It doesn't really make sense.  The flashbacks we are given don't really show us any collaboration on his behalf.  I actually kind of like the actor playing Hoffman, Costas Mandylor.  He's got this brooding thing about him that I suppose all movie serial killers are supposed to have.  He really shines in part VI.  Like I said though, he basically sits in a chair for most of the movie and we never know how he got dragged into Jigsaw's game.  I suppose that's what part V will be for.  

What I Like
I liked that everyone who remotely knows Jigsaw winds up playing his game.
I liked that all the victims from the first 3 movies show up at the clinic.
I liked the guy playing the lawyer.  He starts out as a slime-ball but his reactions to his game are funny.
I like that the guy from "Gilmore Girls" shoots the guy from  Braveheart. Yup.
I like that there have been 4 films at this point and at least 3 more to go.
I like how the last 2 movies spend most of their runtime flashing back to the first 2.

I enjoyed the message of this film and the back story it offers on the character of John Kramer.  His philosophy on life and gratitude actually came before his terminal diagnosis.  The fact that he had cancer only forces him to move forward with his game quicker.

Time is an illusion that cannot be given.