I just finished watching this so it's fresh in my head.
If you like the movie Se7en, The Village or Sixth Sense, you'll enjoy this movie as well. As much as some people or even the previews made it seem like a run of the mill horror movie, it was far from that. Sure, it had some pretty gruesome parts to it, but if you watched the entire movie you'd see it left you with a sense of more of a thriller than a horror.
Saw catches your attention right away with someone (Adam) submerged underwater and wakes up. Eventually he gathers his senses and finds himself in the company of Dr. Gordon. The two quickly realize they are trapped in this room and will have to work together in order to survive and escape.
As the movie progress, their involvement and intermingled lives becomes ever more apparent. Watch the movie and you'll learn just how important Adam and Dr. Gordon are to each other. This is another movie that if you want to enjoy it, don't let anyone tell you about it. Just watch it.
I thought Leigh Whannell (Adam) and Cary Elwes (Dr. Gordon) did a good job in their performances. Dr. Gordon really started to shine at the end of the movie and gave a captivating and believable performance. Both did a good job in drawing the viewer farther and farther into the movie.
There was really no background sound or musical score for this movie. It was probably better left without as well. Saw did just fine on it's own without any extra special effects, sound or camera tricks. If you're looking for camera tricks, you won't find any in Saw either. It was a pretty straightforward 'actor here, film here' type movie.
I was really pleased with the ending of the movie. So many movies nowadays leave you feeling incomplete at the end. Not Saw. Had a surprise ending and left open the opportunity for a sequel.
Definitely not a movie to watch with anyone young or that shouldn't be watching horror type movies. Almost got a 5.0 rating. The only reason it didn't was the length of the movie as well, I wished they would have gone farther into the bad guy Jigsaw's character.
"Saw" opens October 29, 2004 and is rated R. Horror, Thriller. Written and directed by James Wan. Starring Danny Glover, Tobin Bell, Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Monica Potter.
