Spiral: From The Book Of Saw Review - 4 Ups & 6 Downs

Another disappointing attempt to restart the Saw franchise.

Spiral From the Book of Saw Chris Rock
Lionsgate

A year after it was originally meant to hit cinemas, Spiral: From the Book of Saw is finally out worldwide. After 2017's Jigsaw left most fans underwhelmed, this ninth entry into the franchise attempts to rejuvenate the series with a seemingly radical, left-field quasi-reboot.

Despite a tantalising marketing campaign and the obvious appeal of the respected likes of Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, there's no joy at all in reporting that Spiral is a muddled attempt to make the franchise relevant again.

Wildly mixed reviews likely won't do much to deter fans, who are used to the series being critically mauled at this point, but in Spiral's case it feels like a massively missed opportunity to reinvent the series for a new era and global mood.

There's very clear potential for Saw to become another beast entirely in 2021, but this shockingly generic, rushed mess of a film is unlikely to satisfy either the die-hard Saw fans or anyone coming to the series for the first time.

Note: this is a non-spoiler review and won't give away any significant plot points...

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.