Saw V is the latest chapter of its blood-soaked legacy, and, truth be told, I never thought the series would make it this far. As much as I admire the first film, I knew its bag of diabolical tricks would come up short with each successive sequel, a tradition that this latest picture continues to uphold. It should be said that Saw V makes a valiant attempt to stray from the convoluted timeline-fiddling its brothers engaged in, opting rather to go for straight-out shocks. But in the end, it emerges as merely a passable horror flick, freaky enough to get by but a far cry from the jaw-dropping start the series got off to.
Oh, and it goes without saying that this review goes into spoiler territory regarding Saw IV, so if you're not up to speed with the series, it's best to turn back now.
With devious mastermind Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) now pushing daisies, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has assumed his responsibilities, forcing others to fight for their lives in vicious endurance tests. After the events of Saw IV, it looks as though Hoffman can continue his operations in secret. That is, until FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) works his way out of a trap meant to take his life rather than test it. Strahm immediately suspects that a Jigsaw accomplice is on the loose, and it's not long after he begins investigating that the trail starts leading right to Hoffman. But as Hoffman scrambles to cover his tracks, he also must oversee a new deadly game in progress, one in which five seemingly random individuals must work together in order to escape with their lives (and limbs) intact.
Those expecting Saw V to be as twist-heavy as the other movies will be both pleasantly surprised and mildly disappointed here. My biggest complaint with the last two Saw features is that they took a little too much liberty in rewriting the turn of events to wring out a few cheap twists. Thankfully, instead of further complicating things, the makers of Saw V have gone with a more straightforward approach. The script even takes a pretty decent stab at character development instead of just serving up more grisly set pieces. Flashbacks show Hoffman's first encounter with Jigsaw and how he evolved from a cop out for revenge to the madman's latest apprentice. Saw V picks up the pieces more than it creates new ones, allowing first-time director David Hackl to give viewers what they want instead of giving them the runaround. But gorehounds can rest assured that the trademark booby traps are as devious and nasty as ever, especially the gauntlet Hoffman's five new victims have to endure.
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