My Review of Jigsaw (2017)

 

Written by Josh Stolberg And Peter Goldfinger

Directed by The Spierig Brothers

Jigsaw: "The truth will set you free."

With the first seven months having a group of recurring writers and directors and being released between 2004 and 2010, this franchise certainly needed a new coat of paint. To it's credit, Jigsaw tried to do exactly that.

There's no recurring characters like Hoffman anymore. In fact this movie arguably operated as both a prequel to the first one (through some flashbacks) and a standalone sequel of sorts. I should point out that once again, Jigsaw/John Kramer (Tobin Bell) isn't alive in this one.

Saying that, his bloody acts of violence under the pretext of justice were an inspiration for yet another copycat/protégé killer. This time that was Logan Nelson (Mark Passmore). Logan claimed to speak for the dead and he certainly added to the Jigsaw legacy body count.

There were many victims in this movie but most were selected from the criminals that Detective Halloran (Callum Rennie Keith) let slip through his fingers. Needless to say as the movie drew to it's bloody conclusion this would be a decision that Halloran wouldn't live to regret.

Like Hoffman before, there's an attempt to humanise Logan. Logan's anger came from a man named Edgar (Josiah Black) killing his wife. It certainly explained why Logan worked through a list to eventually get to Halloran and frame him for the new Jigsaw crimes. It's sound enough as a motive.

As for the flashbacks, more victims of Kramer themselves were revealed. This included a grieving mother named Anna (Laura Vandervoort). She had lost her baby and had a prior connection to John Kramer. Then there was Mitch (Mandela Van Peebles) who caused the death of John's nephew and Ryan (Paul Braunstein), who also caused a death. Those three had a lot of focus on them and it didn't end well for them.

- Other victims in this movie were Carly (Brittany Allen), fangirl Eleanor (Hannah Emily Anderson) and of course, Edgar himself.

- Logan was responsible for mislabeling John's X-Rays, causing his tumour to be undiagnosed.

- Standout music: Great American Canyon Band's Never Fade Away.

- Chronology: Ten years since the events of the last movie.

Jigsaw felt like a much needed shot in the arm for the franchise. While this franchise will never be able to escape from the ghost of John Kramer, I do think this felt like a fresh chapter for the franchise after the Hoffman heavy series of movies. I really liked this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10