vichyka's Reviews

Saw V (2008)

6/10

Was the end somehow different, that I wouldn't have believed how it ended?

24 October 2008

Here we go again. I was so excited to see Saw V just as I was to see any other sequel of Saw. But in the end every part let me down. I'm starting to wonder where does this excitement come from, especially when at the same time I know I'm already looking for Saw VI to come out. And there's nothing I can do to save me from this obsession. Anyway, I wasn't surprised at all of what I saw yesterday night. We faced this brutal, gory, gruesome performance just like we did in previous 3 movies. What got into them? How can they show this on screen? That's not human anymore. But then again, it never was. The only thing I can't believe is how much blood they shed to record a movie like that. That's really unbelievable. And disgusting. They should forbid putting on screen scenes like that. And the end... Oh, how I feel sorry for every victim that we got to know a little bit more. The sympathy for them just kept rising until they... died. Every one of them. And how we wish they would come back, but they never will.

The director David Hackl really messed up things. He didn't convince me that he's sure about the chronology of acts. It sure didn't seem like that. What's done is done, we can't go back. Unfortunately this movie is already made and everybody we care about is dead. When the last person died, I was left numb. And what's shocking is that he died only because he was supposed to die. So every victim was supposed to die? Because none of them is alive. Not anymore.

Saw V failed.

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Saw IV (2007)

7/10

Nothing that we haven't already seen

26 October 2007

So I went to see Saw IV yesterday night. What do we actually gain from this movie? Basically it shows nothing new, it's like a reprise of Saw III. And the question is, do we prefer Saw III or Saw? Saw started with only two guys, chained in a bathroom, wondering where they are and what's this all actually about, and those questions are typical for existentialism. The point of this movie reminded me a lot of "No Exit", written by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Both Saw II and Saw III distinguish from the first Saw but Saw IV doesn't bring anything new. It sticks to its prequel. We get to see the same scenes (flashbacks), the same places and again we face those Jigsaw traps that never seem to end. I think that we all know by now what Jigsaw really wants and how we are supposed to play. But the detectives and agents seem to lack intelligence and don't listen to his rules. That's how we face again the catastrophe of this spectacle. We also get to see a bit of John's past and his ex-wife, Jill. I thought she was there to reveal something new about John but she never does.

Actually, Saw IV offers quite a lot, many traps, many people who got into them, many stories and also a lot of blood and violence. The truth is, I don't want to see those things anymore. I have already seen all of that in Saw III. It's like the creators of the movie are falling with every sequel deeper and deeper into meaninglessness. They have forgotten a long time ago about the meaning of this whole thing and rather decided to focus on blood and violence. Too bad the team Leigh Whannell and James Wan, the founders of Saw, does not any longer exist. Nothing can save Saw anymore.

But the director Darren Lynn Bousman keeps on trying, which is actually a big plus. He really can create the atmosphere that fits best to the movie.

I have also nothing against the new actors that appear in Saw IV, p.e. Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson, who played really professionally for those two roles that they got.

I guess I still hope that they will save Saw, because I'm a big fan, although I already assume that the situation is hopeless. They have sunk too deep.

Good luck with the next sequel. You will definitely need it.

7/10

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Unknown (I) (2006)

8/10

When you don't know who you are nor where you are

4 February 2007

Another movie ala Saw. Five people wake up in some house from which they cannot escape. They don't remember a thing, not even their own names. One of them is bleeding and handcuffed, one of them is tied up to a chair and the other three are trying to figure the way out. For some reason they know they cannot trust each other (human instinct I presume). There's also a newspaper that says that somebody's been kidnapped. Obviously somebody of those five is a criminal. Their memory is slowly coming back. One realizes he's innocent along with his friend and the other ... Well, he realizes that he's the opposite. The ending reveals it all.

Similarity with Saw, House Of 9 and Cube.

8/10

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Saw III (2006)

9/10

Prepare to see everything

28 October 2006

We all know that every continuation of the movie is a lot worse than its prequels. It's time to forget about that. Traps are so well considered and thought-over, even more than they were in the first two Saws. And blood? Oh yes, it's everywhere. I guess that Leigh Whannell wasn't lying after all. But some scenes are so brutal and disturbing, that they make a person wonder if they forgot about the meaning of the story. It would be completely impossible to save oneself from some of those traps, just like if the chosen ones didn't even get a chance to survive. And this smells like a murder. But Jigsaw also mentions that he despises murderers. Hmm, maybe he's got a bigger plan, some plan, of whom we didn't even dream of? See Saw III and you'll find out.

I recommend this movie only to those who are hard core fans of Saw and Saw II, others can simply forget about it. You just won't handle the tempo.

9/10 (excellent)

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When a Stranger Calls (2006)

8/10

When baby-sitting turns into your worst nightmare

19 June 2006

The movie is about a girl who's not going to a bonfire only because she's baby-sitting that night. Nothing weird about that, right? Until ... The phone rings. Until ... The phone rings again. And again ... And again. Those are not some stupid prank calls. This is for real. If you wanna see how the girl reacts, just watch the movie.

Great atmosphere filled with scary sounds. Very well performed by young Camilla Belle who got the lead role. I see in her some great potential to become a good actress. This is more than only a decent thriller, I have no idea why it's so underrated. Anyway, on my opinion this movie deserves more than only 4/10. 24% of all voters rated the movie with 1. Get serious, people. You couldn't get a better thriller for a title like this.

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Room 6 (2006)

5/10

It could be a lot better

15 June 2006

Well, somehow this movie didn't convince me. Poor direction, predictable story and the actors didn't perform as great as they could. It's about a woman who has delusions and hallucinations throughout the whole movie. She and her boyfriend have a car crash and then her boyfriend is taken to a hospital. But which one? The doctors didn't say anything. She calls all hospitals in the area but all of them claim that her boyfriend isn't there. Is he maybe in some hospital that does not exist anymore?

Anyways, you won't miss a thing if you decide not to watch this movie. The title "Room 6" has nothing to do with the story. So don't let it deceive you. It sure deceived me.

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Cube²: Hypercube (2002)

8/10

Half good, half bad

28 November 2005

OK, we have the same plot as in the first one (Cube). Only this time, the cube doubled. It became hypercube and it progressed by having multiple parallel words. Some ideas like changing the direction of gravity and accelerated/decelerated time really impressed me. Special effects were great but I also had a feeling that they were over-reacting with them. They maybe thought - the more the better. But I'd give the movie minus points because of that. And yes, they totally blew it with the end. The movie deserves a good rating, in my opinion, only because of its first ~50 minutes. As we all know, sequels are rarely better than its originals.

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Stay (I) (2005)

9/10

Excellent

25 November 2005

I've never seen a movie like this before. The whole time of watching, I was trying to guess what was going on, but it turned out that I had no idea. While watching it I was hoping that the ending will reveal the whole thing but it kinda didn't. I had to search the internet to find out what actually happened. Then I was amazed. I admire David Benioff (the writer) to write such a great script. To write something like that a person must have lots of imagination. I was actually expecting a different story, since he wrote the novel for 25th Hour. But this one made just as great impression as the one in 25th Hour. Anyhow, very well picked actors, especially Ryan Gosling and of course Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, who just keeps getting bigger and bigger as a star. The director did a great job, he left us clueless which really falls in with scenario. David Benioff definitely wins here. I would give the movie 10 out of 10, but I can't since it leaves us unknowing and ignorant till the end.

9/10

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Red Eye (2005)

7/10

A decent thriller

25 November 2005

Very short one but extremely intense. I would almost say that this movie was actually very different from others, sort of unique. Rachel McAdams can be considered as a good actress, we could say the same for Cillian Murphy, who really surprised me. His acting in 28 Days Later was very apart from his acting in Red Eye. In Red Eye, his acting appears scarier. Both very well done though. Nice ambient throughout the whole movie, only the story could be a little more developed. If the movie lasted a bit longer, they probably couldn't keep the viewer satisfied. So, it's OK just the way it is. No complaints.

Wes Craven has always done a decent job. In Red Eye too.

7/10

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Saw II (2005)

7/10

Nothing like its original

19 November 2005

Warning: Spoilers

Eight people, several rooms and again the incapable police. Jigsaw again came out with a plan and this time he decided to put eight people into a house with several doors (or so-to-say rooms). One of these strangers is to us well-known Amanda, who was the only one to survive Jigsaw's trap. Eventually they find out that they are all connected to each other somehow they were all arrested by Det. Eric Matthews (played by Donnie Wahlberg), with the exception of Daniel who was his son.

On the other end we have E. Matthews and S.W.A.T. who broke into Jigsaw's place. Jigsaw, or as he introduced himself as John, wanted to talk to Matthews alone. On his opinion, he doesn't appreciate his son's life, so I guess that's the reason enough to threat Daniel's life. Anyways, John has changed so much since the last time we saw him in Saw, his face just wasn't the same, it was poor, it grew thin. Now I know that he has a cancer but I wouldn't say that they changed a person so much only because of that to shoot a movie. We can even see in flash-back, when he went to the doctor to find out that he was dying, he looked the same as in Saw II, not as in Saw. Now that's strange. And it just didn't seem believable that such an old man with a cancer, barely breathing, barely moving, would be able to come out with and "direct" such a brilliant game.

Well, back to those eight people who were reducing themselves one by one. The point of the game was as usual, to stay alive. Their task was to find an antidote (they were breathing in a deadly nerve agent) as soon as possible they've gotten only 2 hours left.

In the mean time, Det. E. Matthews has almost beaten Jigsaw to death. Yes, good work, that's the way the police works. And again Jigsaw tricked them, again he was smarter than them he won again. Matthews imposed upon the things that Jigsaw said, he was led into a wrong house by Jigsaw. He was looking for his son but has found himself in the wrong place. The whole time Daniel was there in the Jigsaw's place. This Jigsaw really likes to play games till the end with cops too. And those tape-recordings that we see playing on computers in his room they weren't even live. Kind of predictable, when he says to Det. Matthews not to worry about his son, that he's in a safe and secure state. John tricked the police again but this time he wasn't alone. He had a little helper, someone who was a former drug-addict. Oh, yes, his helper was Amanda herself. John has been her teacher and he's been giving her lessons of so-called life and appreciations of life. And since he's been dying, Amanda decided to carry on his work.

I must admit I knew about the ending all along because it was a rumor since the beginning. But even if I didn't know that, I wouldn't consider that being a twist. They so wanted to approach this movie to its original that they failed in inventing something new and so they've really moved from what Saw represented.

This movie lacks James Wan (the director of Saw) and of course Leigh Whannell as an actor (co-writer of screenplay). It basically lacks all the benefits that movie Saw had. I'd give a movie 7 stars because I can't just overlook Jigsaw's amazing and well-directed game.

7/10

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