Saw III (2006)

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Cast: Tobin Bell as Jigsaw / John, Shawnee Smith as Amanda, Angus Macfadyen as Jeff, Bahar Soomekh as Lynn, Donnie Wahlberg as Eric Matthews, Dina Meyer as Kerry, Leigh Whannell as Adam, Mpho Koaho as Tim, Barry Flatman as Judge Halden, Lyriq Bent as Rigg, J. LaRose as Troy (as J Larose), Debra McCabe as Danica (as Debra Lynne McCabe), Costas Mandylor as Forensic Hoffman, Betsy Russell as Jill, Jane Luk as Nurse - Emergency Room

"Saw III" is a classic case of an ambitious sequel that has a few
really nice ideas and some scenes that will make fans of the franchise
very happy, but in the end it doesn't, it can't hold a candle to the
original. It's a rule of the series by now that a "Saw" movie must
include a lot of gory deaths as well as an unexpected twist at the end.
While the first thing isn't so hard to come up with - and the makers
definitely do a fine job thinking of the sickest, bloodiest deaths
possible - it's the twist that seems more forced with each entry in the
franchise. It's a disadvantage that we know for a fact a surprise is
coming. What's worse is that in "Saw III" the final twist doesn't
resolve a question we've been asking ourselves during the whole movie.
No, it's question and answer in one and that doesn't make it
particularly interesting. It's just a lot of explaining over some
annoyingly edited flashbacks.

Speaking of flashbacks, there are way too many in this movie. We see
things that we really never needed to see. Loose ends are tied up that
aren't actually loose ends. It's like the writers read too many threads
on the IMDb message boards for the previous movies and decided to spell
out everything that has been ambiguous until now to put an end to all
discussions once and for all. It only goes to show that those things
were a lot more intriguing when they were left in the dark.

Jigsaw himself won't ever keep his mouth shut in this movie. The guy
has thought of many cruel traps but his constant blabbering is his most
sadistic device. He's already been overexposed in part 2, and this
entry in the series continues to make that mistake. After the
revelation about his identity at the end of the original, there really
weren't too many mysteries surrounding him anymore, but part 3 still
tries to come up with some (mainly about his relationship to his
accomplice). Again, this is unnecessary and not very interesting
information.

Considering how quickly the "Saw" movies have been made, it's a little
miracle that they still turned out to be quite entertaining. However,
one wonders if the franchise couldn't be better if a bit more time was
spent on developing the sequels. The production values in particular
could use some improvement. The make up looks fine, but the stage
design makes both sequels look like an episode of "Star Trek".

So, yes, "Saw III" is as fast paced as its predecessors and the
gruesome torture scenes don't disappoint. See it, if you're looking for
mindless fun, but don't expect it to knock you off your feet the way
the original did. Apparently part 4 is already in the works. Now that's
just going to be a waste of time as "Saw III" already ends the series.
Guess, Hollywood never learns. "Halloween" anyone?