In 2004, a low-budgeted torture porn film called ‘’Saw’’ became massive hit. Was it because it was original…….no. Was it because the acting good…….no. But the film found an audience and turned b-film actor Tobin Bell into a horror icon. Honestly, I thought the ‘’Saw’’ film series should’ve ended after ‘’Saw III,’’ but Lionsgate continues to prolonged it. It’s kind of difficult to watch a ‘’Saw V” if you have not seen the previous ”Saw” films.
At the end of ‘’Saw IV’’, it was revealed that Amanda (Shawnee Smith) was not Jigsaw’s (Bell) only apprentice, but corrupt Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) was one too. With Jigsaw and Amanda both dead, it is left up to Hoffman to carry on his former master’s work of rehabilitating people in unethical ways. The premise of ‘’Saw V,’’ centers on Hoffman trying to tie up some loose ends because he believes that someone has discovered his connection to Jigsaw.
‘’Saw V’’ cannot be a ‘’Saw’’ film if there is not a torture game included, right? Well, ‘’Saw V’’ barely ignores the game aspect of the film, which involves four people. None of the four people involved in the game were likable, so I don’t expect viewers to have any sympathy for them when they’re being tortured in the film. In the ‘’Saw’’ film series, I have always been annoyed by the clichéd flashback sequences to explain current events. This is done a lot in ‘’Saw V’’ to explain how Hoffman became Jigsaw’s apprentice.
Surprisingly, the torture scenes in ‘’Saw V’’ were not as homoerotic as they have been in previous films. If I recall, there is only one half-nude man getting tortured in the entire film. The other torture scenes ranged from being laughable to extremely shocking. Once again, Bell sleepwalks through his role as Jigsaw. Considering the fact that he keeps reprising his role for the ‘’Saw’’ films, it is obvious he’s only doing for it the money. Mandylor is not intimidating as Jigsaw’s successor; he practically just sneers the whole time and speaks in a monotone voice.
I would be lying to myself to say that ‘’Saw V’’ was one of the worst torture porn films of 2008. ‘’Saw V’’ didn’t stoop to the same level of films such as ‘’Untraceable’’ and ‘’Funny Games.’’ As long the ‘’Saw’’ films continue to be profitable at the box office, Lionsgate won’t lose interest in the series. I’ll be happy when the torture games of ”Saw” are finally over someday, but they are here to stay for now.
Film Grade: C+
Body of Lies is not a great action film, its not a great thriller and its not very engaging. In fact if you’re not concentrating from the first minute you will get halfway through and go, “what’s happening now?” But I guess the makers would argue that’s the point, this is on similar ground to Syriana but I did find Clooney a better lead character.
What the film is good for though are strong acting performances from Crowe, Dicaprio and Mark Strong. They all knock the ball out of the park and are definitely potentials for the awards season coming soon. But the problem is the story is so convoluted (with Crowe and Dicaprio essentially sharing the lead role) that it does fall apart towards the end.
Ridley Scott does a good job but there’s nothing here we haven’t seen from him before.
So, maybe that’s the problem… we expect too much from Crowe, Dicaprio and Scott and what we get this time is alright, just nothing special.
Anyone who has played the game knows the story, cop loses his wife and daughter and aims to find who murdered them whilst constantly talking to the gamer in a hardboiled private detective kind of way. Well, it seems the test audiences didn’t like that because it has almost completely disappeared.
And worse still the film then commits the worst sin of them all… takes away the very reason the game was so great… bullet time!! I know the Matrix invented this but Max Payne is such a great game because you can slow down time before you start shooting, yet the film barely uses it!! Why even bother associating with a brand if you’re not going use the reason it stands out from the crowd in the first place??
It looks very Sin City-esque and at least it isn’t overlong but there is far too much discussion and very little action and when it all goes very Constantine in the final act, you just yawn as the murderer (signposted clearly after 10 mins in a Murder She Wrote “Spot the only other famous name” kind of way) is revealed and then dispatched.
Has done well at the box office so potentially they could get it right for the sequel but for now this will be classed under “missed opportunity”.
Jake
Founder/Owner jake@themoviespace.com
Dennis’s goal is very complex considering that he left Libby at the altar pregnant with their child five years ago, and she is now dating Whit (smarmily played by Hank Azaria), a fit and suave businessman. After Dennis is introduced to Whit by Libby, he discovers that Whit is running in the upcoming Nike River Marathon in London. Dennis is hopeful that if he enters the race and wins, he will earn the respect of Libby and his son. To prepare for the Nike River Marathon, Dennis has no other choice to put down the beers and snack foods, and get himself into shape.
Pegg has proven in films such as ‘’Shaun of the Dead’’ and ‘’Hot Fuzz’’ that he is capable of having comedic timing. Unfortunately, he provides only a few laughs in ‘’Run, Fat Boy, Run.’’ Script-wise, he does not have a lot to work with, so that affected his performance to a greater degree. Only Azaria rises above the lukewarm script, and does a good job playing a smug character. Despite the uninspired knee-in-the-groin and fart jokes, the film has some tender moments such as the scenes with Dennis bonding with his son.
Pegg is partly to blame for the film’s shortcomings because he was a co-writer of the script along with Michael Ian Black. Hopefully, Schwimmer will improve as a director in the future. With all of the millions that he has made from playing Ross on ‘’Friends’’ I do not think he is too concerned about the financial success of his films. ‘’Run, Fat Boy, Run’’ is definitely not a must see, but an average film to pass the time with.
Film Grade: C+