Finally - a Donnie Wahlberg movie I hate...

**SPOILER WARNING**

**IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN SAW V AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED, DO NOT READ FURTHER!**

**I WILL ATTEMPT TO SPOILER TAG THIS POST, BUT IF I FAIL, KNOW THAT YOU WERE WARNED**







Donnie Wahlberg has finally let me down...okay, not really. I'm more let down by the fact that I finally HATE - not just dislike - a movie Donnie Wahlberg was in. I'm a big fan - as you can tell from my last blog, I'm a Wahlberg brothers fan... and as much as I love Mark, I love Donnie even more. I knew of him first, having been a closet New Kids on the Block fan, and just followed him. I've seen pretty much everything he's been in, from Ransom in 1996 to Saw V last Sunday. And, as bad as some of those movies were - wasn't a fan of Dead Silence (come on, I'm scared of puppets and clowns, both of which were in that movie, and the movie didn't frighten me at all) or Dreamcatcher, but enjoyed the movies cuz I laughed through a lot of it - I was always somewhat pleased with having seen them. And Donnie's acting ability is phenomenal, holy crap. I was drawn into the whole Saw franchise BY him - finally finding the time to watch Saw 2 simply becuase he was in it, and I owed it to my fandom to watch it... I was intrigued by the Saw movies after seeing 3 and 4 - they weren't scary, but I enjoyed them... and after Saw 2, I fell more in love with the franchise. Imagine my excitement to know that Donnie was credited in Saw V!! I don't think I need to describe to you how big a fan of Eric Matthews I am... that'll be handled later on.

I was really looking forward to this movie - Donnie Wahlberg aside, I had become a fan of Saw. I didn't think I ever would - the first movie was not a favorite of mine. It never really drew me in, because I didn't feel the plot was very strong... it was just an excuse for them to show some gore. My brother made me watch it... that was about 4 years ago. So when Saw 2 came out, I kind of blew it off. About when Saw 3 came out on DVD, I had since moved and made a few new friends, 2 of which were huge Saw fans. It was over Easter Break in about 2007 that we watched Saw 3. My first thought as the movie started was "Is that Donnie Wahlberg?" As the movie continued, I wasn't too impressed... the story line was confusing, because I hadn't seen 2, but the characters were rather solid... I really, REALLY liked Wahlberg's character. You have to have respect for a guy who will break his own foot, and then WALK on it. I even think I got into a "Eric isn't dead" debate with them. And what really got me, was when I went home, I couldn't sleep. I was THAT freaked out. That's intriguing... and the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated the movie... the more I liked it... so needless to say, when Saw 4 came out, I was in line with my friends at 10 o clock on October 27th of last year. I was even more intrigued... albeit upset about a few things... but after watching Saw 2 recently, I actually FELL IN LOVE with the Saw franchise... after watching two, being more aquainted with Eric Matthews, Amanda Young, John Cramer, Daniel Rigg, and Allison Kerry, I went back and watched 3 and 4, and gained a new appreciation for the movies, and caught things I never caught before.

I was SO excited for Saw V.

Then... I saw it. And I've never been so disappointed. I answered a discussion on a board about the movie... I feel it more appropriate to just quote what I said there, instead of writing it all out. If a few things are repeated that I already said, I apologize. Also, there are spoilers ALL UP IN THIS POST, so don't read it if you don't want the movie ruined for you.

"I was on the phone for an HOUR last night with my friend talking about how bad this movie was. It was just downright SAWFUL.



There was no twist, there was no suspense, I wasn't trying to figure out anything, and the ending was lame. The games were lame, too, and wth did they do to Strahm's character? He had SO much potential!!

Saw 1 did nothing for me. I was forced to watch it, and it was honestly the most pointless movie in the series. The story wasn't very complex, adn it was just a lot of gore.

Saw 2 was the best in the series - I didn't guess any of the twists, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It introduced a *few* new characters, namely Rigg and, my personal favorite, Eric Matthews. Eric was a BA, and my favorite character in the Saw series. Jigsaw's plan was soooo elaborate in 2, everything was so hard to guess... I loved every minute of it. EVERY MINUTE OF IT. It was hard to hate John, I found myself falling in love with Amanda's character, and rooting for (and falling in love) with Eric. I even CRIED in Saw 2. I found myself getting angry with Eric, wanting John to just give him his son... but at the end when the big reveal was made, I couldn't help but just admit that he had told us everything, and if we had just listened, we would have gotten our answers. Genius. I was in total awe of the sawesomeness of this movie. I felt anger and respect for John, felt sorry for/angry about Eric... sooo many connections were made with the characters... it was just a GREAT movie. I was a mild fan of the franchise before I saw this movie - but FELL IN LOVE WITH IT after seeing this one.

Saw 3 got me curious in the first few seconds... I saw it before Saw 2, and still managed to fall in love with Eric right off the bat... After seeing Saw 2, I watched Saw 3 again. Not as good as Saw 2, but the storyline continued steadily, and there were so many tiny nods that kept me guessing. I figured a few things out, but not Jeff's secret, and not a few other things. The traps were, dare I say, beautiful, in this one... the Angel, the Rack, the necklace... everything was so exquisite. And I still loved Amanda, John actually gained my respect, and I loved Eric EVEN. MORE. The character development was great, the story line was awesome... and the gore was bearable.

Saw 4 weakened a bit, but it was still awesome. I saw this, too, before Saw 2, and watched it also after seeing Saw 2. Because of the whacked out order in which I watched the films (1, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5) I was able to catch a lot of little things I hadn't caught before, and that's one thing I REALLY liked about 2-4. They were seperate movies, but they all tied into eachother so well. A lot of times, with movies as complex as this, you get a nod in a previous movie, and it's forgotten int he second. This didn't happen over the course of these movies. Everything was done so well. Saw 4 was the only one that really ****** me off... It bothered me that, after 6 months of torture that he didn't deserve, Eric dies because Hoffman decided to put his life in the hands of Riggs. I didn't think that was fair... and I was really upset that Eric died. I thought, as I left the theater, that that was the biggest mistake of the Saw franchise... top that off with the death of Jeff, John, Amanda, and Riggs, you've got NO ONE, but Hoffman, left from the original franchise, and it's quite honestly going to be difficult to bring new things in. Hoffman was the other biggest mistake... but we'll get into this in a bit. That being taken into consideration, the movie was still good. The twist was fantastic, the story was still real thick, and I liked the new characters, namely Peter Strahm. I felt they could do a lot with his character. So, while tears were shed, and I got my first real glimpse of anger towards John, I liked the movie. The franchise was still going strong, and I was already speculating what they could do with Saw V... I pretty much guess that it would center around Strahm.

Saw 5... was so disappointing. Like I had guessed, they centered it around Strahm - driven crazy by the idea that Jigsaw had yet ANOTHER accomplice. He had brought this to light in Saw 3... his mistake was telling Hoffman that he suspected someone else. What I didn't guess was that they would focus the story on Hoffman like they did... that was a mistake in my mind. Another mistake was showing us John's girlfriend, receiving a box, looking inside, then not telling us what's in it. Great. Now we're probably getting Saw 6. The story for this movie was not only terrible, the plot uncomplex and boring, but it also tore apart everything the first 4 movies set up.

For starters, they made me lost respect for John. In 1-4, he was always a sort of upstanding serial killer, never really killing anyone, just trying to teach them to value their lives. One of my favorite Saw moments was in Saw 3, when he stares directly at Amanda and says "I despise murderers." We find out later that he WAS talking to her, referring tot he fact that her games were unwinable, that she was just killing to kill... and that she had left Eric Matthews for dead. It was chilling to see how Jigsaw reacted... how he gave Amanda chance after chance to change her. And Amanda went through SO MUCH to gain John's respect... there was a sort of pity to her character. Watching her die after everything she'd been through was upsetting... there was a lot of connection there. But in Saw 5, we learn how Hoffman got involved - and it went something like this:

Hoffman murdered his sister's killer in a jigsaw like trap... Jigsaw found out, put a gun to Hoffman's head, and threatened to pull the trigger. Apparently, that was his test. He then let Hoffman join him in everyone of his traps, from the barbed wire thing to the house to the Eric-on-Ice performance.

The idea in and of itself, I despised. I didn't like having Hoffman involved from Saw 1, especially since he was only brought into the picture in Saw 3.

But the thing that REALLY bothers me is that Hoffman was a murderer, that's how he started... and all Jigsaw did was give him a firm talking to. That blows his "I despise murderers" concept right out of the water.

Also - they destroyed Strahm's character. I'm glad his character ended up the way I did, because there was no other way they could have developed it after they destroyed it.

there were SO MANY plot holes... nothing got tied up, and it wasn't Saw-esque at all.

Hoffman's trap was a joke. It was an interesting idea, but I think the 5 in the room were merely there to fill time, and provide the gore that Saw was so famous for. The traps weren't as genius as they were before, which one could argue was because it was Hoffman in charge and not John, but still.

Plus, the idea that one person had to die in each stage... ridiculous. There's no rehabilitation in that... so Hoffman isn't playing by the rules... which would be fine if he had stuck to that pattern and broken the rules the entire time. But he didn't, they tried to make it like he was playing by the rules... which ****** me off to no end.

And finally, there was the Scrubs way of telling the story. Strahm tells Hoffman early in the movie that he thinks it's him... and then he goes off and follows an interesting trail, visiting all of Hoffman and Jigsaw's little trap areas... he would enter a room, and then we would get to see what happened, which is apparently what he was able to figure otu just by looking into the room. He would say a one liner to himself, and move to the next room, repeating the process. I call this the Scrubs way, because it reminded me of JD's dream sequences... he'll stare off into space, then say a one liner and move on. It just didn't work for the movie.

The whole movie was a waste of time. It wasn't what Saw had been at all... quite honestly, it was a joke. I half expected the whole movie to play out, then at the end, cut to Tobin Bell, Donnie Wahlberg, Costas Mandylor, and Scott Patterson, sitting around a table, at which point the following conversation takes place:

Costas: And that's how Saw 5 would have happened.
Scott: Wow...
Donnie: Glad I got out when I did!
Tobin: yeah... pretty much glad I died.

It was a JOKE. I've never been so disappointed...

There was so much more they could have done...

I think if htey had never introduced Hoffman, that woudl have been great... killing Eric was a mistake, they could have kept him alive and played with his character more because, let's face it, he was the BEST character in the franchise and had so much potential. Strahm could have been developed better, not turned into an obsessed wimp like he was. Even keeping Riggs alive would have been great... and I would have even been happy if Hoffman's character was developed a little better... but none of that happened.

The movie could have gone in so many directions that would have rocked, but it didn't... it sucked. So - while I was excited for Saw 5, I must say, after watching it... Saw is done. That movie was, as I said before... Sawful."

"Seriously, though... Eric's character - at least to me - had SO MANY dimensions... and he was pretty bad ******.

I felt killing him in four was not only unfair, but a waste of a great character. More so than any of the other cops, even Hoffman, they could have played with Matthews, taken him down so many roads, instead of so cruelly smashing his head Final Destination 3 style.

And I would have liked to see a little more development out of Amanda, as well...

I personally never came around to Hoffman. I wasn't a big fan, and I'm still not.

Too many things upset me in this movie, not enough of the Saw I was used to... and I think the story line just fell limp.

Not to mention, I don't know how they're going to justify doing a 6th movie when Strahm is dead, and Hoffman's plan was to frame him. They can't continue with the Jigsaw murders for a number of reasons...

1. Hoffman needs someone to let him out of the case... which means they're going to find it, along with Strahm's blood. They'll know he's dead, and he's been framed as Jigsaw's last accomplice... so if the murders continue, then there goes Hoffman's big plan.

2. Hoffman doesn't intend to be let out of the box, just dies there, and there's no one to carry on the torch.

3. Hoffman is in cahoots with Jigsaw's girlfriend, she let's him out of the box, and no one ever finds the warehouse. They continue the murders, but no one ever catches the illusive Peter Strahm... I don't know about you, but I'm not looking forward to a movie where they chase a man we know is already dead.

And the idea of involving the gf? Yeah, don't like that. Why doesn't Jigsaw just pass the torch to ME next?

The other thing that bothered me was that there is apparently NO forensics team in the Saw movies.

They found a cup of coffee on the desk - a cup of coffee that was supposedly Strahm's, but that we saw Hoffman take a drink out of earlier in the film. Wouldn't procedure mean for them to take all the evidence (the cup, the phone, etc.) and do proper tests on it? wouldn't they then find Hoffman's saliva on the coffee cup, thus blowing his whole plan to smithereens?

And there were far too many inconsistencies.

I don't agree that this is the same Saw we're used to. I agree they get a bit of lee way cuz they're new writers, but not THAT much... and I don't think it would have gone stale had we kept some of the original characters... they all had a lot of potential and were developed so well...

But even if they had treated Strahm a little better, I would have enjoyed it more."

So there you go... those are my feelings on Saw V.

I also wasn't too happy about the fact that, the only scene Wahlberg was in was a flashback of him dying. Yeah, let's play THAT over and over again. Band of Brothers (I always found it interesting that his character's name was Lipton in both BoB and Dead Silence), Annapolis, The Sixth Sense, Boomtown, and of course my personal favorite, Purgatory... among all others. But this will be one movie that has a glimpse of the actor that I will NEVER watch again... unless my friends and I get together and make fun of the movie... haha.

The good news is... Max Payne will be better than this, no matter how bad it is.

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