This sets the stage for the film’s main intrigue, where detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks ( Chris Rock) and his rookie partner William Schenck ( Max Minghella) investigate the death, in which they find out a John Kramer copycat is targeting the police department, specifically the force’s corrupt officers, in which he constructs sadistic traps themed after their own cover-ups.

“Live or die, make your choice,” the Jigsaw copycat tells him, as he must choose by either ripping his tongue out or getting killed by an oncoming subway train. It’s also the franchise’s most aesthetically pleasing film, with bright neon blues permeating the film’s first trap, where a corrupt police officer is punished for his lies by having his tongue trapped inside a system designed to rip it out. By doing this, director Darren Lynn Bousman and screenwriters Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger craft the most serious (and best) Saw sequel yet, utilizing the franchise’s greatest hits to its advantage.

The latest instalment in the franchise, Spiral, wishes to revitalize the franchise through a traditional detective thriller, à la David Fincher’s Se7en. It’s terribly shot (with its emphasis on 3D) but also highly cathartic, which produces some of the series’ most oddly satisfying kills. Spiral is the best Saw film since the original, utilizing the franchise’s greatest hits to its advantage to create an aesthetically pleasing and constantly engaging detective thriller.Īfter the release of the terribly unnecessary eighth instalment in the Saw franchise, Jigsaw, directed by The Spierig Brothers, it was finally time for Lionsgate to retire the franchise once and for all after they swore that Saw 3D would be “The Final Chapter.” Many Saw sequels do not live up to the excitement and suspense of James Wan’s breakout 2004 film, as they dare to ask the question: how many sequels can you make (or milk out) when Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), your franchise driving character, dies in the third one? Admittedly, some of them are extremely fun to watch, but in a ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of way, most notably the seventh one.

Ending of spiral book of saw