Screenhead

A lot of people have said a lot of things about the Saw franchise over the last six years of its existence, marked by a new installment every year, which is considered a breakneck pace for a system that might release a new franchise title every two years or more.

But I’m one of those folks who figures that, despite the fact that Saw was great fun in its way, it probably should’ve stopped with three titles.  And today we’re talking about where it should have ended, Saw III.

Saw III represents something of a departure from the original formula, and instead of following around several people in either a large game or their own games, introduces the new aspect of a kind of “innocent bystander” who doesn’t really have much skin in the game, compared to the other people involved.  And this time, Jigsaw’s on his last legs, so he’s dispatched shrill drone Amanda to kidnap a doctor for him.  They rig the doctor with an explosive collar and one instruction: keep Jigsaw alive until the end of this, his last game, and the doctor goes free.  Fail, and the doctor’s head will be reintroduced to the surrounding landscape.

It’s actually kind of interesting watching this progress, and I was fairly satisfied with how it all turned out.  Sure, it wasn’t the best in the series–I still say that title belongs to either two or five–but it was a fair and reasonable ending.

Sadly, it was not to be an ending at all, but carry on.  Part four, we talk about tomorrow.

But the Screenhead Ten Scale has work to do right here, and gives Saw III a six out of ten for being just a little less quality than the previous two installments, but still plenty passable in its own right.

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