Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

• This definitely wasn't as good the second time around. It used to be my favorite out of all the Saw movies, but after a rewatch, I'm not as impressed. It's still fun, but not as good as the original Saws. This movie wasn’t groundbreaking or phenomenal, but like I said, still fun and entertaining. I like how even though it has a reference or two to John Kramer and the original Saw storyline, this movie is a standalone sequel, which made it fun. It continues the terrifying Saw feeling, and brings in an entirely new killer who has no relation to the previous ones. At first I wasn’t a fan of not having Billy the Puppet and Kramer’s infamous voice, but the new killer's voice definitely grows on you. It’s more high pitched and somewhat relaxed, so in some ways, it sounds even more terrifying. This movie has a decent story, and I love how it uses police corruption to give a motive for the killer. Both killers (past and present) targeted certain figures who abused their powers, as well as those who committed the wrong acts and tried to justify them. However, it seems very pointless, and almost kind of like the movie was a cash grab. It adds very little to the Saw storyline. The cast all around was pretty good, and I especially loved Chris Rock. However, even though it's a good cast, the acting was trash. Most of the time it's such plain corny. Chris wouldn’t have been who I thought could play a serious detective who has to solve the murders, but he did an alright job. He had several scenes where he really showed raw emotion, along with some that made you laugh. In terms of the killer, I wasn’t a huge fan. Though I liked the twist of the killer's reveal, he didn’t really give off Jigsaw vibes. Another complaint is the ending. I liked how it ended, but it also leaves you with a cliffhanger, and I’m not sure if the future Saw movies will answer what has been left. This movie was also arguably the most goriest and disturbing Saw movie, and the only one that might surpass this one would be Jigsaw. Overall, this movie was poorly made, but still entertaining in several spots. You could also watch it without needing to see any of the previous Saw movies (except you wouldn’t recognize who Kramer is).