After the massive failure that was Jigsaw, one would think that a franchise like Saw would finally be left to rest in peace. But no...
We're "blessed" (so to speak) with a John Kramer/Tobin Bell-devoid mess of a movie, a basic detective story with one of the most predictable killer reveals I've ever seen in a movie.
Chris Rock as a cop doesn't really work, and I'm far from the first person to point this out. It's almost hard to tell what's more bland and lifeless, his acting or the writing of his character.
The only true standout of this movie was Samuel L. Jackson who, once again, is playing a slightly different variation on the same character he's been playing in most every single movie he's ever been involved in.
Spiral is a slog of a movie, a wasted effort to sit through. There's nothing of substance, nothing of excitement. If this is, in fact, a page "From the Book of Saw," then this is one of those chapters that should've been left on the cutting room floor. It doesn't have the tone of a typical "Saw" movie, it's missing all the characters the viewing audience would ever care about, there's no mystery about it, the plot is severely underdeveloped and misses the mark at every possible stop along the way... it feels more like one of those "contractually obligated sequels to ensure we keep our rights to the franchise" type of films rather than a truly well-contemplated sequel that justifies its existence. Were this not an entry into the Saw franchise, which I love and have now seen every movie in, I would not have bothered giving this movie the time of day. In fact, having now seen this mess of a "film," the probability of me ever returning to this entry for another watch are slim to none. There's just no interest in it anymore. It offers nothing to the films that preceed it, and it offers nothing in the way of preparation for what came after it.
Spiral is the second consecutive hiccup in the franchise. Thankfully I watched Saw X in theaters quite a while before seeing this one because, otherwise, I would've viewed the series as a complete and total dud and would've skipped it entirely.
It was at this point in the franchise that Saw officially lost its way. Thank God to Tobin Bell for coming back and resurrecting it for Saw X, that's all I'm going to say about this one.
Chris Rock as a cop doesn't really work, and I'm far from the first person to point this out. It's almost hard to tell what's more bland and lifeless, his acting or the writing of his character.
The only true standout of this movie was Samuel L. Jackson who, once again, is playing a slightly different variation on the same character he's been playing in most every single movie he's ever been involved in.
Spiral is a slog of a movie, a wasted effort to sit through. There's nothing of substance, nothing of excitement. If this is, in fact, a page "From the Book of Saw," then this is one of those chapters that should've been left on the cutting room floor. It doesn't have the tone of a typical "Saw" movie, it's missing all the characters the viewing audience would ever care about, there's no mystery about it, the plot is severely underdeveloped and misses the mark at every possible stop along the way... it feels more like one of those "contractually obligated sequels to ensure we keep our rights to the franchise" type of films rather than a truly well-contemplated sequel that justifies its existence. Were this not an entry into the Saw franchise, which I love and have now seen every movie in, I would not have bothered giving this movie the time of day. In fact, having now seen this mess of a "film," the probability of me ever returning to this entry for another watch are slim to none. There's just no interest in it anymore. It offers nothing to the films that preceed it, and it offers nothing in the way of preparation for what came after it.
Spiral is the second consecutive hiccup in the franchise. Thankfully I watched Saw X in theaters quite a while before seeing this one because, otherwise, I would've viewed the series as a complete and total dud and would've skipped it entirely.
It was at this point in the franchise that Saw officially lost its way. Thank God to Tobin Bell for coming back and resurrecting it for Saw X, that's all I'm going to say about this one.