SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW WANTS TO EVOLVE THE SAW FRANCHISE

 note: this review was written May 16

Spiral is a Saw film that doesn’t want to be a Saw film, isn’t marketed like a Saw film, and doesn’t feel like a Saw film. Despite this, it still wants to retain some classic Saw elements and at the end of the day is still a Saw film. Spiral is an attempt to evolve the franchise, but the ideas and plot needed more development. I loved that corrupt cops are being targeted this time, and the plot of Chris Rock bring the sole good cop in a department of crooked officers. That said, there needed to be more depth. 

The message at the end of the day is that corrupt cops needed to be rooted out of the force. More would have been nice. I also didn’t love the reveal of who the Jigsaw copycat is ( it’s kind of obvious). Chris Rock is great as our lead, and his backstory is great too. Sam Jackson is slumming it here and isn’t given much to do, his screen time amounting to 20 mins or less. 

Spiral is significantly more graphic than Jigsaw was ( There are some stand-out traps, but none rank among the series’ best), but it’s likely the simplest Saw film we’ve gotten thus far. Here, we are only following one single storyline: that of Chris Rock’s Detective Banks, and how the investigation is starting to deeply affect him. This is refreshing. Spiral is likely the most colorful and visually appealing entry in the Saw franchise thus far as well. 

In the end, Spiral has more of a reason to exist than Jigsaw did. It’s actually trying to do something new and evolve the franchise, but it doesn’t do enough different to really stand out. It’s worth a watch for Saw fans, but if you are tired of this franchise this film likely won’t re-spark your interest.

3.5 STARS