ViewGuide

Created Jan 09, 2009 01:25AM PST • Edited Jan 09, 2009 01:25AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   At the beginning of James Wan’s “Saw” two men (Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes) wake up in a grimy bathroom, chained up and unable to easily escape. The tapes they each find in their pockets reveal tasks that the two of them must successfully complete in order to escape the room with their lives intact. As they do so, the two attempt to piece together how they got in this position and who has done it. It’s a world away from the more violent and more elaborate sequels that followed, probably the best this financially successful but increasingly creatively bankrupted series has to offer, a more straightforward but more challenging viewing experience than gag the recent “Saw V.” The traps glimpsed in flashbacks and cut-aways deliver on the grisly goods horror fans will be expecting, while the detective-work story accompanying that of the enclosed men – named Adam and Lawrence – adds layers to the story even if it borrows too much of the running time. The ending, to cap it all, is damn fine.

4. Acting

   Good 3.0

   The leads of the cast are screenwriter Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes, the former excellent in his feature film debut and the latter a little bit histrionic as the story progresses and his character is forced to make some tough, grisly decisions. Impressive supporting parts come from Danny Glover, Michael Emerson and Shawnee Smith, while Monica Potter makes for the most notable female part as Lawrence’s captive wife.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    James Wan does a pretty good job directing “Saw” in spite of his sometimes-hyperactive chopping of scenes and MTV-style cut-aways. The script by Leigh Whannell has the characters interact in a way that seems naturalistic given the circumstances (this despite a few clunkers along the way), and also scripts the central plot – surrounding a sorta-killer dubbed “Jigsaw” – in a manner that keeps the viewer entertained and informed. Even there, however, a few unexplained gimmicks emerge, like that of Billy the Puppet, who Jigsaw uses in one of his traps (this was eventually given attention in “Saw III”). The visuals offered up by the film are bloody and occasionally scary, though the amount of gore glimpsed isn’t much compared with, say, “Saw III.” Finally, the music score is one of the film’s greatest strengths, the now-widely recognised signature theme of the film playing crucially into the film’s final two minutes.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Very Good 3.5

13. Music Really Great 4.5

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.0

    Minimal amount of sex, quite a bit of violence and all the curses that come with the territory.

17. Sex Titillating 1.7

18. Violence Savage 3.6

19. Rudeness Nasty 3.7

21. Reality

    Glib 1.5

    It’s only with the most recent sequels that the “Saw” series has become elaborate and unrealistic to the point of ridicule. Compared to them, “Saw” makes quite a convincing case.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.5

23. Biological Glib 1.5

24. Physical Glib 1.5