Saw V Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: As Hoffman continues Jigsaw's work, Strahm tries to gather evidence that Hoffman is the last accomplice.

Review: This is, without a doubt, the worst entry in the franchise. I mean, the entire film is pretty much filler material we did not need to know. On top of that, we, as the audience, realize we're being strung along in order to milk the series to death. Keep this in mind: part 4 began by discussing a new game, from the cassette Jigsaw swallowed, and that didn't happen in part 4. Well, that new game still didn't happen in this movie either as the traps here were ready to roll immediately after the events of Saw 3 (and technically 4). This entry further tests the plausibility that Jigsaw would have this many traps in the work simultaneously; needless to say, this installment probably has the most contrivances outside of part 1. And, similarly to one of Jigsaw's traps, the incompetence of this entry started a chain reaction that led to part 6's failure and part 7 to be declared the end.

What do we really get with the movie? Essentially, this is the misadventures of Hoffman as Strahm fumbles about like a fool. Sometime after Jigsaw became known to the press, Hoffman killed his sister's murderer and tried to pass it off as the work of Jigsaw. For whatever reason, Jigsaw takes a liking to Hoffman and molds him into his first accomplice (this is before Amanda). This origin is annoying, because Hoffman and Jigsaw have no chemistry together and Hoffman never had a real test. You could argue part 6 and 7 were Hoffman's tests, but he had no initial test--Jigsaw simply trusted to work with him. Ehh, whatever. I'm okay with exploring Hoffman's backstory, but we didn't need to see him working on past traps throughout the series. Come on, that's outright padding! The flashback transitions aren't even implemented coherently half the time.

While Hoffman is taking us on a stroll down memory lane, Strahm is magically figuring out that Hoffman is the last accomplice. In fairness, it was dumb that Hoffman put Strahm in a trap at all considering he wanted him dead outright. Of course we have more time wasting with Strahm visiting old traps as well. Suddenly realizing that this is supposed to be "Saw V," we are introduced to 5 (get it...5...part 5...oh forget it) forgettable fodder characters. These characters are intended to run their own gauntlet of traps, but the caveat is that they're supposed to work together. Ehh...I'm okay with yet another gauntlet of sorts, but, fundamentally, these characters serve no purpose to the plot. You could say they were used to frame Strahm as the last Jigsaw accomplice, but Strahm was intended to die after part 4 and this trap was assembled long before. Honestly, who cares, am I right?

In the end, Hoffman has successfully placed suspicion on Strahm as the last accomplice...though, you'd think his whereabouts during the many killings could be accounted for what with him working for the FBI, but I guess not. The idiots in the traps betray each other and die since they were meant to work together. Strahm's boss finds this trap and plenty of planted evidence to link it to Strahm. Meanwhile, Hoffman has rigged a trap to kill Strahm. Strahm puts Hoffman into the trap after a struggle, which was beyond contrived, only for Strahm to realize the trap was the protection and that the room they're in is a compactor. And that's it! Strahm gets crushed--the end! Fuck resolution...game over, bitch!

This is why it's best to play it safe and follow a normal narrative structure instead of whatever the hell this was. I can just picture the studio imagining 10+ sequels of this caliber of shit and all the money rolling in. Little did they know that this blatant attempt at fucking around would ruin their plans. The problem is nothing happened in this sequel. It's an entire film simply showing us Hoffman's backstory and Strahm dying. Nobody wanted that. But it wasn't just the absence of Jigsaw that hurt things--the point of the traps were predictable and had no connection to anything. We aren't even told how Jigsaw or whoever knew what those people had done. Overall, it felt like they were writing the script as they were filming and forgot to include the third act or something.

Notable Moment: The pendulum trap...I guess. There really wasn't anything worth remembering from this entry.

Final Rating: 4.5/10