Possibly the weakest instalment of the series and definitely one of the worst sequels in existence, the 5th chapter in the Saw franchise not only discards the basic aspects of storytelling but logic as well, for anything & everything goes in this movie over the course of its runtime without making any proper sense.Once again putting a group of strangers through a series of sadistic tests, Saw V mainly concerns the guy who's been continuing Jigsaw's work following his death and whose identity was unveiled in the previous chapter. The plot focuses on events that led him to become Jigsaw's apprentice and how he's managed to keep it a secret.Directed by David Hackl in what's his directorial debut, the film removes Jigsaw from the front seat and offers it to someone who isn't one bit interesting. The story still relies on numerous flashbacks and barely shows any interest towards events that are unfolding in the present. What hurts it most, however, is the decision to take the centerstage away from John Kramer.The torture devices are upgraded which is not very surprising while violence & gore delve deeper into the sadistic territory which again is to be expected, since this appears to be the only element where its creators choose to utilise their thought process. The twists aren't shocking but lame & uninspiring and the most ridiculously stupid of them all is saved for the final moment.On an overall scale, Saw V continues the downfall of the infamous series, for nothing in it is able to keep the interest alive and even the die-hard fans of the franchise will have a tough time finding something that may justify their time investment in it. A cringeworthy entry that should've been a straight-to-DVD material, Saw V is that torturous Jigsaw test that you have to take if you want to check out the subsequent instalments.

You kind of get the impression through this, that the film kind of loses it's way. Again, like in 7, the bloodiest Saw, we have a highlighted bloody opening (the R rated version) here, involving almost the same contraption, a descending, swinging saw that slices deep through our hapless victim among the screams of desperation and terror, intestines, kidneys flying and all He deserved it. Yes. Now Jigsaw, ala: John may not agree. "Everyone deserves a chance"? How oddly intriguing this serial killer is. Well technically, he hasn't killed anyone. Hoffman (Mandylor) the most unpopular cop, I've seen on film, gets his justice. His Sister was savagely raped and murdered by that hapless victim. Another cop is on his arse, knowing about his corrupt activities- justified revenge and other things, determined to expose him. Meanwhile we've got a new batch of victims, harvesting their own secrets, ones of them they'll share, instead of them taking them to the grave. These Saw movies work well, with their interconnected stories that move the plot further, and pave the way for the next entry. This isn't a bad Saw, where Mandylor really creates a dark and attracting character, I'm glad he stepped on board, really outshining the other young and upcoming actors. Of course Bell, is brilliant as always. Saw's violence here is occasional, but comes in much heavy quantities, again like 7, 4 and 6 I have not seen. But like any franchise, it'll tire out, and we'll get sick of hearing those Saws.

After escaping from his lair, a detective begins an investigation into the connection behind the traps which leads to the true identity of Jigsaw's disciple who is out conducting another game and must race to save them before the game is finished.This one was better than the others, and right now is the one that can be tolerated more than the others. What really helps here is that there's plenty of fun and exciting traps here delivering solid and brutal gore scenes here that are certainly up among the series' best. The opening pendulum set-up is quite brutal and somewhat chilling here with the slowly-lowering blade drawing some nice tension in here, while the main game that plays out here is filled with several awesome traps and set-ups here. The opening in the room where they have the collars attached to the blades to decapitate them when the timer runs out is a fun game, the search for the keys in the jars before the bomb goes off is a nice, frantic race which is quite suspenseful, while the final two set at the end in the electrical wiring room and the razor contraption are some really impressive ones that are more important here in detailing how the game plays out which is the most impressive parts here. How they get to the gradual realization of their connection to each other makes for a really enjoyable time here which is not only given a nice reasoning but unfurls at a rather nice time here with the resolutions coming off rather well. The last plus here is the final twist which is a bit of a shock that is about as good as the first one was that manages to get several plot points tied together from the past into a fantastic effort overall. These points here hold this one up, while it's still pretty terrible. The biggest issue here with this one is a problem that's plagued the rest of the series as it's still utterly irritating and annoying as the flashbacks are just not so interesting throughout here with the continued clarifications and spelling out what happened in previous installments here being just not in the slightest bit interesting. As well, the detective investigating what we already know and taking up a ton of time on that issue alone simply combing through police files and reports is just absolutely dull as there's simply a ton of rifling around here where nothing much becomes of these scenes beyond merely confirming what's already known the whole time here by finally unveiling the true disciple here that becomes the whole point of the investigation. That's wholly boring here simply using all this time here on this one issue. The only other small flaw here is the fact that the rather lame ending to the game's set-up, which gets pushed aside to the back as the main focus shifts to the other plot-lines and feels quite a bit of a cheat considering how good the game here actually was. While this wasn't as flat-out terrible as the others, it's definitely up to a somewhat respectable status.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.

Upon viewing Saw V, marked the first time I seen a definite slip in the franchise. The cast that was thrown in a group as the core group to get through the traps were really undeveloped and had weak characters. Only Hoffman and Strahm had relevant roles in this film and they both lacked character than even the previous film. The death scenes, or known as traps to Saw fans, didn't quite seem as unique to past films either. It seems the writers had a good run because they are beginning to drop the ball with their films. I give the film kudos for staying true to the story and bringing back past cast members, which is important in my book, but in the end it was quite the letdown. Watch Saw V (5/10) immediately after the forth film to receive any sort of satisfaction for watching this sub-par horror flick.