By David Dent
The ‘Saw’ franchise may now be nearly 20 years old but has remained robust, with a hardcore fan base actively supporting every subsequent movie, despite the fact that the original game architect John Kramer (Tobin Bell) hasn’t officially been in a ‘Saw’ film since the third instalment.
Bell’s reprisal of the cancer ravaged, revenge obsessed Kramer – a bit like Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey character from the ‘Death Wish’ films, but with more creativity – is welcome after the increasingly absurd later additions to the series.
Saw X (directed by Kevin Greutert, also helmer of Saw 6 and 7) recognises this by placing its events between the first two films of the franchise and devoting a fair chunk of time to Kramer’s character, if not necessarily his backstory.
Searching for a cure for his aggressive cancer, Kramer learns of a revolutionary treatment programme operating out of Mexico. For an eye watering $250K programme director Cecilia Pederson (Synnøve Macody Lund) promises a very high chance of recovery; John takes the opportunity, and although the operation seems to be a success, Kramer subsequently discovers that the whole setup was a con; there was no operation, he’s a quarter of a million dollars worse off, and he’s still dying.
Whereas in the other films in which Kramer directly featured, his reason for carrying out his ‘projects’ was only divulged as the movies progressed, here the audience learns upfront the reasons why ‘Jigsaw’ is angry. And as the games master springs traps for the people responsible for the Mexico duplicity, the audience’s sympathy is wholly on his side, even when things get (unsurprisingly) pretty gruesome. In many ways then this is a film of two halves, but through it all Bell’s character shines; vulnerable and sadistic in equal measures, it’s a fine performance and his final face off with Pederson a fascinating exchange of views about power.
More ambiguous is the return of Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith), Kramer’s accomplice, not seen since Saw VI (2019). Amanda is both assistant and confessor to Kramer and his plans, but her precise motivation remains unclear. Smith looks fantastic though, strong, driven but also at times sharing Bell’s humanity and uncertainty.
The rise of the ‘escape room’ format in the years since the first ‘Saw’ movie may have somewhat diluted the traps in these films, and the setups become overfamiliar, but this remains Bell’s film; tense, strangely touching, and a real return to form for the franchise.
Saw X is in cinemas from 29 September 2023.
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