About the film (courtesy of Lionsgate):
A criminal mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in Spiral, the terrifying new chapter from the book of Saw. Working in the shadow of his father, an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
Just like a signature killer in a horror movie, it seems as though nothing can take out the Saw franchise for good. With the pandemic numbers ebbing a bit, this has allowed some theaters to reopen with the return of movie lovers seeing these creations as they were meant to be seen. Sure it’ll be a while before we can even think about getting back to pre-2020 entertainment times, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start the slow climb out of the darkness of the last 14 months or so. Spiral: Saw hopes to put trepidatious butts in seats along with those eager to see what this twisted franchise has up its sleeve this time around.
Chris Rock headlines the cast of Spiral: Saw in a group that doesn’t feature many names besides Samuel L. Jackson that would pull you in. Rock is decent in a role that required more serious than his usual projects. That said, there are a couple of times where it feels like he’s working on new standup material. That isn’t a bad thing, it’s just something to be noticed. As for Samuel L. Jackson, he’s pretty much been typecast for a while now and that’s what seemingly works for him. Expect to see an angry, brash character with an affinity towards using words that won’t be heard on the tv-edited version of this film.
Staying true to its name, the plot of Spiral: Saw starts off decent enough but about halfway through, it begins to SPIRAL in a downward direction and just unravels. I know focusing on the little things rather than the big shiny stuff they’re trying to sell you on is frowned upon, but there comes a point where you just can’t turn a blind eye and then you start to look for things. I’m not trying to put thoughts in your head here, but please don’t focus on the consistency of glove wearing as to not taint the evidence.
As for the staples that fans of the franchise will want to see: yes, you have some elaborate death traps to have fun with and yes, there will be copious amounts of gore. On that front, you’ll get what you’ve hoped for, although creativity seems to have hit the cruise control button. There’s not much that would be considered shocking, new or even compelling about the ninth entry into this franchise. Yet, there are a few gratifying moments to be had.
Spiral: Saw does just enough to keep you semi-entertained, but nowhere near enough to recommend this as a must-see. Just be thankful that they adhere to the “about average” runtime for these types of films in keeping it around 90 minutes. There’s not a whole lot to unpack here and certain aspects of this chapter become painfully obvious despite how hard the writers and director may or may not have attempted to conceal certain mysteries and such. If you’re a fan of the genre, franchise or maybe even Chris Rock, you can check this one out in theaters starting this evening.
