As such a huge fan of the SAW series, I was only a few years late on watching this installment. For shame, Celeste, for shame. In my defense, things have been pretty hectic. I finally sat down to watch this with a friend, not sure what to expect. After all, we've had, what was it, 7 SAW films? Even someone who admittedly blindly buys into each and every film can admit that at some point they stopped making total sense and had glaring plot holes, as well as being somewhat gratuities. Ok, very gratuitous. Fortunately, where my gore and torture films are concerned, I happen to love gratuitous.
I expected a few plot holes and a tired story, and for some aspects of this I was not at all disappointed. However, I ended up enjoying this movie so much more than I thought I would, confusion aside. There were some aspects that just never came together for me, which made it confusing at times. I am a bit tempted to re-watch it after the reveal to see if things hold up. If you've watched it, you probably know what I am talking about. If you haven't, stop reading now, there are SPOILERS ahead!
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When the footage was shown of the John Cramer game from a decade earlier, it felt very confusing with the game that was being played in the present time. It made me wonder, do the clothes and technology hold up? Were there hints to this that would give it away? Is that even worth a re-watch though?
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Despite the few quibbles I had, I was riveted. I didn't look away, which was the same feeling I have experienced with each one of the SAW films. I can't help it, I just love them so much. I've been invested in the series after loving the first movie but especially after the 2nd one came out and I realized there was more to the story.
I spent a fair share of time yelling at the screen as the characters did dumb things, but I guess that is also part of the fun of watching horror sometimes. It's far from perfect but I'll accept this as a worthy installment of the series.