Saw X Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. The Villain Is Cartoonishly Evil

For once, a Saw movie has a clear, definitive villain: Cecilia (Synnøve Macody Lund), the leader of the crew who defraud Kramer of his wonga.

But, by transitioning from well-meaning doctor to ruthless, egomaniacal Disney villain within an hour of screen time, Cecilia's character is at odds with the more considered tone X shoots for overall. And, in a series first, she forces a child to undergo one of Jigsaw's traps. While it certainly ups the stakes, it also compounds the character's cartoonishly two-dimensional presentation.

Granted, it would have been more challenging to present an antagonist with complex moral concerns while both John Kramer and Amanda Young are experiencing their own moral reckonings, and yet many of the previous Saw movies do precisely that, offering up misguided or downright monstrous characters who nonetheless have enough moral fibre to question their own actions.

This misstep rests squarely on the shoulders of writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg, whose previous credits -- including two of the lesser Saw movies, Sorority Row, Piranha 3D and Piranha 3DD -- don't exactly smack of character development.