Saw X Movie Review

Saw X (2023)

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Written by: Pete Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg
Directed by: Kevin Greutert
Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund
Rated: R
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Plot
A sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable.

Verdict
This is one gruesome dismemberment or death after another. That's all this has to offer as there isn't much story. It's goal is to shock and gross out the audience. While it does that, it's nothing I want to see. I don't care to see disgusting injuries in graphic detail. Any tension is overshadowed by how gross this gets. That must be the reason I quit watching the franchise after the second movie, and I'd guess that's all these movies are now. Even when this movie gets to the big reveal, it has to explain it so the audience so it makes sense.
Skip it.

Review
I've seen the first two Saw movies and Jigsaw. I heard this was a better Saw movie, but I wouldn't consider it good. It's difficult to imagine that this is the tenth movie in the franchise, but it is. The franchise is also working on the eleventh installment.

None of the Saw movies I've seen have recaptured the magic of the first one. That's what I hope for with every sequel, knowing it's a hapless endeavor. The sequels became to engrossed in mutilation, sacrificing intensity and anticipation. What does this series have left? Based on this movie, not much.

John (Tobin Bell), the sadistic killer of the franchise is back. This wastes very little time before we get a gross trap, but it was just John daydreaming. This movie doesn't want to go more than ten minutes without attempting to gross you out. While John died in Saw III, the successive movies that features him are set prior to Saw III to avoid the issue that they killed off the main character.

Tobin Bell plays John Kramer

John travels to Mexico for an experimental surgery. That ends up being a scam and John intends to get revenge. The 'doctors' didn't do anything, other than completely faking him out. The one thing I don't understand that's never explained, is that John's friend recommends this doctor. The friend shows John a larger scar and is visually in better health. I think it's just a plot hole, otherwise why wouldn't John torture that guy too?

John manages to track and capture everyone involved in his fake surgery. It appears he kidnaps them and sets up a torture warehouse in a few days. I don't know how that's even possible. He found a warehouse in Mexico and assembled all this equipment in a couple of days. How?

What I don't like is that this movie just wants to be disgusting. It does that instead of building suspense. It's gross; what this shows and what it implies. This movie's goal is to make you turn away. I'm not sure people could do some of these things. We watch, in detail, a woman saw off her own leg. It's just too much. This is not for weak stomachs, but there's no tension, we know everyone will die gruesomely. While we don't know specifics, there's no reason to care and no mystery. 

This shows everything, and it's just too much. This makes me want to rewatch the first Saw. I remember really liking that movie, and I don't think it was this gross. Taking place in one room, drove a lot of tension. The second movie was more gross, and that's why I stopped watching this franchise.

As the movie continues the torture becomes more complicated. When John is restrained, we know he's too smart to get trapped. We know it's some kind of ruse and that he'll escape. That leads into the big reveal, but the movie can't just reveal the truth. It has to show us in flashbacks because otherwise we wouldn't understand. That's a fault of the movie. You shouldn't have to explain the big reveal with so many scenes. The reveal itself should make the rest of the movie click into place, but this narrative has issues so the movie holds our hands through this. Really, there isn't much narrative. This movie as excuse to try and continually gross out the audience. That's not why I watch a movie.