If you like the Saw movies, you probably checked out the new Spiral movie by now. I was able to see it recently and I walked out of the theater kind of disappointed. I mean, it was okay and I dug the suspense and the scenes that were all about the Saw-like traps, but I just felt underwhelmed. If I had to sum up my main criticism of the movie, it would be this: it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. And if you’re already familiar with the Saw movies, you already know what’s coming. Well, except for the fact that there is no Jigsaw. So who’s the new killer carrying on the work of the famous Jigsaw? I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I will give you my overall thoughts on the movie. And in the end, you might not want to even see the movie.
First of all, the leading man of Spiral is Chris Rock. Talk about an odd casting choice for a horror/suspense movie, right? Okay, so Chris Rock was actually really good in the movie, but no matter how serious he tries to be, I still just hear that iconic Chris Rock voice. Let’s be real, it’s a comedy voice. Not very suitable for a movie that’s meant to be in the Saw franchise, but still, he managed to play a good protagonist in it. Oh, and how can I not talk about Samuel L. Jackson? He plays an ex-police chief and the father of Chris Rock’s character. They don’t have the best relationship and it effects both of their character’s relationships with the police department they work for. In fact, it has a lot to do with the motivations of the new Jigsaw killer.
But wait, things are different in Spiral. This new killer is never referred to as the new Jigsaw killer, but he was clearly inspired by John Kramer, the original Jigsaw killer. Speaking of John Kramer, you’re probably wondering, how does he fit into the story of Spiral? The easy answer, and this is kind of a minor spoiler, but he pretty much doesn’t. Chris Rock’s character and his fellow cops say his name several times and we get to see a picture of him, but it stops there. And when the new Jigsaw killer begins his “games”, they wonder why he is committing murders in a manner similar to John Kramer, because you know, he’s supposed to be dead. In fact, he was supposed to be dead about three movies ago.
And by the time we discover the identity of the new killer, he mentions how John Kramer wanted to build a system of Jigsaw killers who can carry on his work. We’ve seen him take on several loyal proteges in the sequels, but of course, they could never be as terrifying as the original. And guess what? It’s the same exact case for this new killer. Heck, even his voice doesn’t sound very scary. The original Jigsaw had a voice that could send chills down your spine. This new guy just sounds like a copycat trying to be as scary as John Kramer, but doesn’t try hard enough. And when he does do the Jigsaw traps, they’re certainly creative in the most devious way, but the thing is, we’ve seen it all before.
That’s a big problem that Spiral suffers from. It’s really just another Saw sequel pulling the same old tricks. How many times can we watch the same trick be done over and over again? Well, Spiral doesn’t mind giving them another go, but it ultimately fails to do anything new. In fact, I feel like Spiral doesn’t do a good enough job of carrying on the Saw franchise. I mean, it hardly feels connected to the previous Saw movies.
While Spiral does make some small references to John Kramer, it doesn’t mention the proteges he took on. I’ve kind of lost count, but John Kramer had several like-minded followers who became copycats. There was the cop, the psycho vigilante, and even the Cary Elwes character from the first movie. None of these would-be successors came close to the terrifying figure John Kramer became. That’s expected, but this new killer is far less scary than the successors. For a sequel that we waited so long for, shouldn’t the new killer in Spiral be at least on a level close to John Kramer? That’s at least how I feel, but I guess the writers felt different.
Now the new killer in Spiral does mention how John Kramer wanted a system, something he was building in the previous movies. It’s possible this new killer could be doing something similar. Now if the former followers of John Kramer are still out there, then this new killer could start a whole new system (hence the Spiral title) and pick up where John Kramer left off. It’s not a bad idea, but we didn’t really get a set up for that in Spiral, only a brief reference. That was kind of disappointing, as I thought this new installment would do more to expand the franchise.
What I thought was most interesting about Spiral was the backstory of Chris Rock’s character and his complicated relationship with his father and the police. It’s not good, but the new killer has a mission that involves “cleaning up” the department. That’s the biggest connection to the previous Saw movies. The new killer in Spiral, like the original Jigsaw killer, didn’t just terrorize innocent people. In his eyes, he targeted people who deserved it. In fact, they kind a do, but the killer in Spiral would also give them a chance to escape. All they had to do was make a sacrifice which involved disfiguring or dismembering themselves. Seeing how it all became connected in the end was interesting, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel like it is carrying on the Saw franchise. It actually feels like its own movie, which isn’t a good thing.
So those are my overall thoughts on Spiral. If you’re a fan of the Saw movies, you might like it. I just expected it to expand the franchise and have a bigger connection to the previous movies.
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