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 It's A Trap. Oct 20, 2009
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R20I118D5LUXPX
 An exercise in wheel-spinning Aug 18, 2009
The Bottom Line:
A completely unnecessary film (Saw III wrapped things up pretty nicely, but the franchise is a cash cow so more keep coming) which is unbelievably transparent in its pathetic attempt to craft a continuing story out of the few loose ends that were leftover from the last installment, Saw IV could be described far better as "desperate" than "scary": the only reason to see this one is if you want to say you've seen every Saw.
1.5/4
Just keeps getting better and better!!! Aug 12, 2009
All I can really say about Saw 4, it that the series just gets better and better with each new film. The film is bloody as usual, and we continue to learn new things about John "Jigsaw" Kramer with each film, and we end up being more sympathatic with the character... The film has a good pace, and keeps you guessing as usual and still continues to play with your mind. There are times, that even I get a little confused of what is going on and who is involved and why... I like this series and can't wait to see 5 and 6, even 7 when it is finally released... Oh, yes! There will be a Saw 7...
I recommend this film, but beware... there is a lot of blood and gore, especially with the unrated director's cut which i have... You have been warned!
Confusing, illogical mish-mash Aug 07, 2009
Let me preface this review by saying that I love horror movies. A good horror movie is good on its own terms; a bad one has potential to be good as a bad movie. Saw IV fails to live up to its potential either way. I didn't love Saw III a lot, but it was a decent 2.5-3 star movie, and the cliffhanger ending got me interested in renting Saw IV. I wish I hadn't.
We begin with a seriously fake autopsy. I've never actually performed one, so maybe it's super-realistic. But when you see the big pieces of latex (I mean, skin) peeled off of Jigsaw, you might actually start laughing like I did. That's not an auspicious beginning. And thus begins Saw IV. The flashbacks and heavy-handed exposition start coming fast and furious, rendering Saw IV more an exercise in figuring out the overly-complex editing than an exercise in straightforward horror. We the viewers get to see mild-mannered Jigsaw when he was just a regular old architect or civil engineer or something. He was more interesting as an enigmatic and all-knowing killing machine.
On top of the confusing editing, Saw IV fails to hew to its own internal logic. One of the key features of a genre film, particularly in SF, horror or fantasy, is to set up simple internal logic and hew to it diligently. Otherwise, it's very easy to shatter the suspension of disbelief. One of the key rules of Saw is that Jigsaw lets his victims "make a choice" - each gets to live or die based on that choice, and he lets them go if they live. Indeed, Jigsaw found Shawnee Smith to be an unsuitable pupil due to her failure to follow the rules. But the big set-piece trap in Saw IV completely ignores the rules, given that at least one of the participants was going to live or die completely due to the actions of someone else. Please, Saw franchise, if you're going to set up your main character to have a specific character-defining rule, make him follow it.
For spoiler-related reasons I won't go into here, the cliffhanger from Saw III isn't merely not resolved - it isn't even mentioned in this movie! That knocked a star off right there.
If you watched Saw III, you will rent Saw IV. You may, however, call it quits at Saw IV and purposely avoid the remaining films. I, for one, do not intend to rent Saw XIV to see which 20-year-old footage they're cutting up to make more flashbacks for the 2025 release. At best, this is worth a rent.
 'I don't have to convice everybody. Just twelve people' Jul 09, 2009
Now many didn't care for Saw IV, and felt the series reached it's peak with Saw III.
But I think this film goes hand-in-hand with Saw III. Granted, it went in a lot of directions that are polarizing for fans, as it ruined some potential that Saw III opened up for Saw IV, but it opened several new desirable elements as well.
I think this film deals with similar issues as Saw III; the acceptance of loss, redemption and forgiveness. This one deals more in the realms of letting go of things one cannot accept, and the danger of trying to prevent those around one from making the wrong choices, thus prevnting them from doing the right ones.
This installment shows more of what made Jigsaw into Jigsaw, how he went from John Kramer to sadisitic moral murderer Jigsaw.
I have to say Lyriq Bent, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor and as always Tobin Bell did great in this film. And it's important to understand that sometimes these aren't for the critics, but for the fans. And it's not about blood, it's about the story. I can skip over the trap scenes and still enjoy every other element, such as the actors, the dialogue, the story, the characters and the pace.
Unfotunately, Saw IV is a film people will judge before understanding, and that's just the way it will always be. I, however, defy this conventional thought with a Saw IV poster in my room.
Enjoy.
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