#SPIRAL BOOK OF SAW TWIST SERIES#

The character Zeke Banks is the antithesis of previous franchise characters particularly Donnie Wahlberg’s Eric Matthews and Costas Mandylor’s Mark Hoffman, both of whom were Detectives with shady methods.

I certainly did not walk into a ’Saw 9’ expecting to spend a portion of my review discussing story and character, and yet here I am, because those things are not too shabby here. I’m speaking in context of the ‘Saw’ franchise, and I do find it to be refreshing that there is such an emphasis on these things in the ninth film in a franchise primarily infamous for its gory glory.

#SPIRAL BOOK OF SAW TWIST SERIES#

Instead of following the people at the mercy of a Jigsaw killer, we follow the police as they attempt to unravel the mystery, bringing the series back to its ‘Se7en’-inspired roots.Īnd just to clarify, when I praise the story and the characters, I don’t mean that it’s profound or groundbreaking or award worthy. Here the characters are actually important to the story rather than just randomly thrown in for the sake of body count, as is the case for many of the sequels following the creative departure from Wan and Whannell. This may alienate some fans who just want to see people ripped apart by ingenious and clever traps, but for me it was a breath of fresh air for this franchise. What really works for me with this film is that it is very much focused on story and character first, and puts the traps/gore second. Upon learning that Detective Marv Boswick (Dan Petronijevic) was killed by a Jigsaw copycat who is targeting dirty cops, and as he starts to receive gifts from the copycat, Zeke requests to take the lead on the case and must work with those who despise him to solve it. Zeke and Schenk are assigned to investigate what appears to have been a homeless person hit by train, but they soon discover that it was one of their own a detective with his own dirty secrets, but one that Zeke called a friend.

After his undercover assignment is blown, Zeke finds himself in hot-water with his Captain, Angie Garza (Marisol Nichols) and he is assigned a Rookie partner, Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella) after it’s established that the bad blood between him and his colleagues makes it so he doesn’t know who to trust, something in which the details of unfold along with the mystery throughout the movie. The story revolves around Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock), a truly good-natured police officer whose morals and honesty puts him at odds with the corrupt within his department. ‘Spiral: From the Book of Saw’ is the 9 th installment in the franchise that began in 2004 from James Wan and Leigh Whannell, and is from the mind of franchise fan Chris Rock, who actively pursued this project, and Saw 2-4 director Darren Lynn Bousman.

Spiral book of saw twist