Saw III (2006) Movie Information:

Saw III (2006) Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman Saw III (2006) Written by: Leigh Whannell Saw III (2006) Cast: Dina Meyer, Angus MacFadyen, Bahar Soomekh, Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell, Lyriq Bent, Mpho Koaho

Saw III (2006) U.S. Distributor: Lionsgate Saw III (2006) U.K. Distributor: Lionsgate

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Saw III (2006) Synopsis:

Jigsaw has disappeared. With his new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes Jeff (Angus Macfayden), another of his victims, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them...

Saw III (2006) Movie Review:

Bringing some much-needed thoughtfulness to a rather grim genre, the first two “Saw” films managed to combine bloodletting to chill the spine and philosophical ideas to intrigue the mind. “Saw III” continues this tradition and ends the trilogy on possibly the darkest note of all the films. However, with its quest to delve deeper into its own mythology, this latest offering -- as dementedly entertaining as it is -- runs the risk of ruining the shock and fun of the first two movies.

Oh, and for those of you who've yet to see “Saw II,” you'd better turn back now, because I'm about to head deep into Spoiler Country...

When viewers last left Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a man who has taken it upon himself to ensnare individuals in vicious traps in order to test their desire to live, he had taken upon an apprentice of sorts, a former victim named Amanda (Shawnee Smith). With terminal cancer eating away at him day after day, Jigsaw is now on his deathbed and mostly leaves the teaching of twisted life lessons to his new helper. But being the sickeningly clever madman that he is, Jigsaw's not going to go out with a whimper.

After kidnapping depressed doctor Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), Jigsaw and Amanda reveal their most disturbing test of a victim's will yet: forcing Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), a man still mourning the death of his son, to confront his personal demons and put him in control of deciding the fates of those who let his son's killer go free. The catch? It's up to Lynn to keep a fast-fading Jigsaw alive long enough not only for him to view his latest macabre masterwork but also to save her own life.

“Saw III” is a movie teeming with genuine creepiness and intrigue while valiantly fighting a mean case of sequelitis. On the upswing, the movie's creative team has come up with a number of ghastly traps to equal those of its predecessors, from a nasty little device attached to a victim's ribcage to a particularly icky mechanism that gives "doing the twist" a whole new, homicidal meaning. Saw “III” definitely doesn't bore when it comes to gore, which is saying quite a bit in an age when people are reacting to Leatherface impaling some poor soul on a chainsaw with about the same level of fervor reserved for when their favorite pop is sold out at a vending machine. This film comes packed with a cold-blooded vibe that doesn't let up, constantly putting viewers at unease and consistently giving them some blood-laced heebie-jeebies like a good horror flick should.

“Saw III” also gets some decent dramatic mileage from the dilemma of Jigsaw's latest victim, a man who's thought of nothing but vengeance after his son's tragic death and who's suddenly put in control of deciding if those responsible should live or die. It's an interesting twist on the usual Jigsaw M.O., a "player" in the madman's game having to choose another's fate instead of his own.

But alas, despite a nearly-consistent atmosphere of intensity, “Saw III” ends up falling victim to a trapping or two of its own design. The "keeping Jigsaw alive" element of the story is something that never really sat well with me, and the big plot twist used to explain it away (which isn't a spoiler warning, since the “Saw” flicks are as synonymous with twist endings as M. Night Shyamalan at this point) comes across as a pretty clunky device lacking in oomph and impact.

Being the third in a trilogy of films based essentially on the same idea (how far would you go in order to stay alive?), “Saw III’ doesn't cover too much new thematic material. And, in trying to connect this “Saw” with its brothers plus make things come full circle in terms of story, it verges on ruining the effectiveness of the first two movies by providing revelations and other information about what "really" happened to certain characters, and this detracts from what made these low-budget ditties so scary in the first place.

As far as acting goes, everyone does an average job, although for a guy who's been told he has two hours to pass through a series of diabolical tests in a warehouse before he's shut in for good, Macfadyen's Jeff seems to take his sweet time in getting around from place to place.

In the end, “Saw III” works. It's creepy and effective despite its flaws. After three movies, Jigsaw's blades haven't dulled very much at all.

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Saw III (2006) review written by: Adam Hakari