Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
90 mins
Saw VI is marginally better than the last couple of Saw films, thanks to a stronger central plot, though it still assumes a working knowledge of all five previous films.
What’s it all about?
The sixth instalment of the death-trap-based franchise picks up immediately after the events of Saw V, with shifty old Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) continuing to frame the now dead Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) for Jigsaw's crimes, despite the fact that FBI chief Erickson (Mark Rolston) and a presumed-dead colleague are inching ever closer to the truth. Meanwhile, Hoffman and Jigsaw's widow, Jill (Betsy Russell), continue Jigsaw's work, working from a series of envelopes bequeathed to Jill in Jigsaw's will and explained, frequently, by Jigsaw himself (Tobin Bell), who appears in a series of flashbacks, imaginary sequences and clips from the previous films.
This time round, Jigsaw's target is insurance company boss William East (Peter Outerbridge), the man who had refused Jigsaw health insurance that would have funded an experimental cancer treatment. Sure enough, East wakes up to find himself facing a series of death traps in which he has to choose which of his employees to save, often incurring personal injury to himself as a result.
The Good
As with Saw V, it's still amusing to note that Tobin Bell continues to get more screentime now that he's dead than he did when his character was alive. Saw VI also benefits from a topical twist, making its victims bankers (the traditionally grisly opening sequence has two bankers competing to see who can chop the biggest chunk off themselves to stay alive) and insurance company employees.
Bell continues his excellent work as Jigsaw and you have to marvel at the fact that, by this point, he's the most sympathetic character in the movie, despite the fact that he died several films ago. The film also pulls off a pretty decent final twist that was lacking from the previous film.
The Bad
The death traps themselves are slightly more inventive this time round, but the biggest problem is that the characters are so unsympathetic that it's impossible to care who lives and who dies.
Worth seeing?
Basically, Saw VI is slightly better than you’d expect a sixth instalment to be, but that's not saying very much. Die-hard fans of the franchise won't be disappointed, but everyone else will find all the backstory utterly incomprehensible.