Jigsaws apprentice Amanda kidnap Dr. Lynn Denlon to keep the cancer-ridden Jigsaw alive for one last game that's about to be played. Dr. Denlon has to keep the puppet-masters heart beating, while Jeff, one of his other victims must complete a game. But if that wasn't enough, Jigsaw has even greater plans in store for them all.
For a while there it was hard to surf movie sites on the net without coming across the talk that for the moment was the coming of the 3rd movie in the SAW franchise. It finally came out and now they've already started on a 4th installment to be launched next Halloween. While I thought that the first movie was brilliant, I just found the second one to be a gory flick that managed to entertain, but that just were riding on the fame of the original. But for most of the time, with a few exceptions, it's pretty much always like that so it didn't come as a big surprise either. I gotta admit that I avoided this third film a while, because when people talk way too much about something, the attraction that it might've had at first somehow gets lost and instead becomes the complete opposite. Eventually I decided to give it a try though, because after all, it felt like a movie one "should" see, and maybe it was my low expectations of a third installment that did it, or I'm not sure what it was. What I'm sure of though is that I really liked it, much more than the second film.
While Saw III proved to be extremely entertaining, my main problem with this film was that I couldn't feel any less for the characters that were in it. Sometimes it felt like it was all for show, but without the heart. What I mean is that we're introduced to characters that we've never even seen before, who are hooked up to deadly devices and are about to be embraced by death, and all we want is to see how that device works and how their bodies are torn apart. Most of the characters are just a bit too shallow for one to be able to feel anything for them, and therefore, when most people die it means nothing, instead it's just fun and entertaining. In the end I guess that's the way you have to look at the Saw films, but if you do, you're in for one helluva gory treat.
 
What started out as a clever and scary low-budget production eventually grew up and became one sweet flashy-looking bloodfest. The relationship between Jigsaw and Amanda is revealed and that was actually pretty awesome to watch. I'd have to say that I really dug Amanda (Shawnee Smith) throughout the whole film, she really stood out and I came to like her more and more the further the movie went. She's a deranged psycho-bitch, but still I found her character to be very intriguing. The overall cast members were great, but personally I think that Bahar Soomekh's performance lacked something as you were supposed to feel really sorry for her, but it was quite impossible to feel anything for her character. Tobin Bell was great as in the other films, and this time around we even got a really good feel for his character, the more human side of him so to speak.
Saw III is a movie aimed at the fans though and you need to have seen the previous two before getting into this one, otherwise this film will make your head spin - early on as well as towards the end. I felt that this third movie didn't overdo it on the violence either, sure it was gory and utterly sadistic, but it also had another side to it, something that was lacking in the second installment. Also, I think we get more drama that really works this time around while the tension and suspense is always there, just waiting around the corner to hit again and again.
If you're a fan of the two previous films, you should most definitely check this one out as it's probably all you want it to be. It's not extremely predictable, but if you put your mind into it when watching, you can probably figure out what the outcome will look like. Even though this third film somewhat felt like it was gonna be the last chapter, it ends in such a way that a fourth film is "necessary".
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Saw 3
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Darren Lynn Bousman
WRITING CREDITS: James Wan, Leigh Whannell
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Bahar Soomekh
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 113 min
RATING: 8/10
Saw III Website/IMDB Click here
Saw III Trailer Click here
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