9. People Should Be Horrifically Punished For Niggling Mistakes - Saw
Although development from an earlier short by the directors, Saw feels very strongly like its remaking Se7en. Not only do we get a young/old cop duo with a near retirement black man (thats oddly specific isn't it), but the killers have very similar motives. Both John Doe and John Kramer justify their rampaging murders with a sense or morals; its about punishing people for their weaknesses, be that based off breaking seven deadly sins or not appreciating life. And really, you cant fault some of Jigsaws kills. The cancer patient gaining a new perspective on life makes for an initially interesting exploration of morals, but it is inherently flawed. John Doe picked on people who by todays standards are innocents, but there the purpose was beyond the individual murders; it was to send a message. Kramer had little overall motive, making it a sort of empathetic revenge. This would be fine, except the Saw films (unlike Se7en which made it clear Doe had a warped mind) attempted to idolise the killer, if not the method. To hate on someone for not fully appreciating life is a rather trivial and nasty pursuit, yet the films try so hard to make it noble. Later on in the series things get considerably worse, with people punished for the most contrived of reasons, but here there was oddly more justification; Jigsaws apprentice took on a straight villain role, caring much less about the morals and in it just for the pain.