Saw IV: You've already seen it.

After the disappointments of Hostel 2 and Captivity, I'll admit I was glad to see Saw IV have something other than just torture going for it. It sets us up to wonder and wait for the twist. Regrettably, it sets it up with confusion and unnecessary scenes.

Saw IV carries three sawed-off storylines. First is SWAT Commander Rigg (Lyriq Bent from Saw II) going through a game where he must watch and set the triggers for Jigsaw's traps in order to find his lost partner Eric Matthews (Donnie Walhberg from Saw II) before (or after) his time is up. Second is the two FBI profilers trying to find Rigg and the games he's playing, leading them to question Jigsaw's ex-wife more than they should. Third is the flashbacks profided by Jigsaw's ex, through which we see his reasoning for his first victim and what else drove him to build his games.

The good of this movie is the games. Not since Saw (the first one) have I been interested who lives or who dies, whether they learn their lesson, and how the complicated machines work. It still lacks the character development that Saw I at least tried for. Ultimately, Lionsgate has made four cheap movies in four years that have dominated October movie sales. The Saw series, regardless of whether it is a good movie, have always made in the low 30's for millions of dollars in opening weekend. It is an episode-like movie series that has survived its first killer-transition. The fact their fourth installment is better than its third shows it has no intention of slowing down its.

The downside of the movie is it has two settings: suspenseful games and the dramatized unnecessary. It opens with a full autopsy of Jigsaw, where a tape player is found in his stomach. What is the point of this? Just something to gross you out. It serves no purpose as later on the detectives figure out on their own there's a third killer, and by the end of the movie, it has confused as to the setting and time of everything we've seen. They take their usual twist, over-do for a duty they never had to fulfill, and spin. What's next? Saw V is set up as a sequel, but the twist is its a prequel?

Although I did like they were able to move past Jigsaw eventually and we saw Jigsaw's backstory, we didn't need it. We already knew enough from Saw II. Did it decide to rewrite half of his backstory for the sake of giving Tobin Bell some screen time?

In the end, I realized I could have watched Saw I for the games and Saw II for the backstory. Saw IV just took my money for what I already have on my DVD shelf.

Thanks,
--Jack.