Sherlock Holmes - The Best of the Saw Series?

 Sherlock Holmes - The Best of the Saw Series?

Words by Dirk Calloway

I really liked the most recent Saw sequel, called Sherlock Holmes. Until now, the series has been getting worse with every passing year. With Holmes though, the franchise has been rebirthed with a fresh set of actors, writers, location and narrative. Take the villain of the pieces for instance:

Instead of Jigsaw we now have another guy with a hairline problem. His name is fancier: Lord Blackwood. Both of them are meant to be dead, but insist on returning from the grave to lay out a master plan for life. Both have rather grandiose ideas about a world that lacks selfishness or depravity. Both, rather ironically, try to change this wicked world of ours by making sure that humans act as depraved and selfishly as is possible. Both love to do this by using fiendish traps. And what fun these traps are!

The traps often stack the odds against their victim. In all cases, if the victim stays in the trap long enough, they will die. Like, the bathtub scene in Sherlock Holmes, where the guy carks it because he's been naked in the bath too long. Or the freezer scene in Saw III, where the girl carks it because she's been naked in the freezer too long. The specifics are all much of a muchness really, but it's nice to see that Holmes is the seventh film obsessed with fiendish traps.

Doors are always locked in Saw films. They are always locked for good reason. Sometimes there's dead animals on the other side, and sometimes there's explosions. Always, there are bad things lurking. Sherlock Holmes continued this tradition, and the weird fixation on keys that keeps popping up throughout the franchise.

Oh, crap, I almost forgot. A reliance on steam-powered whatsamahoosits is incredibly important to the series. Holmes proudly makes sure this motif is kept alive. Heaps of things are fuelled by fire and make enough sparks that people nearby would be very scared. The photo above doesn't do the machine justice, but rest assured, it's just as impressive as anything in Saw V .

Of course, no Saw movie would be complete without a double-crossing ex-criminal who's in league with the villain. Rules state that she must get detectives to do her bidding. She also has to have a weird love-hate relationship with a detective. She also has to be sort of indebted to the baddie. I know that none of this makes sense, but hey, if you want realism, go watch a Friday the 13th film buddy.

There are many, many more reasons why Sherlock Holmes is the best of the Saw franchise, but I'll leave the rest to the commenting board. I hope Guy Ritchie makes another sequel, because I've a feeling the next one will be in 3D!