Movie Review--Spiral: From The Book Of Saw

"Hello Detective Banks.  I want to play a game."

--Jigsaw copycat, Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Spiral is the product of several very unusual decisions.  For starters, it is almost a side story featured in the same universe as the other eight Saw movies--like if a Lord of the Rings spin-off film was made where one character from the main stories in that universe was referenced.  There is also far more sarcasm and intentional or unintentional humor in the first third of Spiral than has ever been in any Saw movie before it, but the grim seriousness completely overtakes those elements by the end.  Yet another bold storytelling decision led to Spiral, a movie centered on a corrupt police department released in the 2020s of all times, not touching on racism at all despite featuring two black lead characters who are or were part of the police department in question.  Together, these aspects make Spiral one of the most artistically and thematically interesting movies of recent years.  It is connected to an enormous franchise without relying on that connection very much in an era dominated by increasingly massive entertainment franchises, and it, whether purposefully or not, points to several key truths about how not all corruption in halls of political power has to do with racism even if some certainly does.

Production Values

Practical effects for the traps and more of an emphasis on comedy are united in the first 20-30 minutes, which marks a series first when it comes to having both at the time time.  However, the intensity of the traps and the jokes and sarcasm in the first parts of the movie are not in conflict, partly because of the shift in the performance of the main actor.  Chris Rock, the voice of Marty the zebra from Madagascar of all movies, is right at home in his dramatic central role in Spiral as a detective.  He is one of the biggest sources of the sarcastic line delivery in the entire movie, but he does not let the character's initial attempts at humor define his detective for the whole runtime.  Just like Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson handles his role by showing his capacity for humor and drama at different times; it is just that he has a much smaller role than the former.  In fact, almost every other character besides Chris Rock's Zeke Banks is very obviously secondary.  It is clearly Rock and Jackson that carry the brunt of the character expression.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

When a police officer is victimized in a situation that is reminiscent of the traps arranged by Jigsaw before his death, detective Zeke Banks has to identify a new murderer that is relentlessly targeting members of his police department for the wrongs committed by the individuals in the group and covered up by the collective department.  This killer is inspired by Jigsaw but not dedicated to embracing his specific, inconsistent kind of moralistic take on Darwinism.  The new kidnapper and murderer just appreciates parts of his ideology and physical symbols.  Zeke is driven to desperation when the case becomes more and more personal, forcing him to reevaluate his standing with the police and reconnect with his father.

Intellectual Content

While other Saw movies have always involved police characters, both corrupt in the sense that they are sympathetic towards Jigsaw's ideas or corrupt in that they were guilty of hypocrisies or deeds that drew Jigsaw's attention, but Spiral is by far the one with the greatest emphasis on the police side of events.  This makes the thematic focus on police corruption a very natural fit.  Now, the fact that the themes of a movie like this have nothing to do with racism is almost abnormal in a political era like this, but this highlights how just because a group is oppressive does not mean it is racist.  Moreover, numerous police officers or detectives in the series have been black, meaning that Saw was including natural diversity long before the cultural push to have it for the sake of having it.  The skin color and gender of the characters in Spiral are just not given specific attention even though the cast is so diverse.  There is a need for movies that emphasize diversity, and there is a need for movies that directly or indirectly focus on how the capacity for injustice has nothing to do with race or gender, and Spiral is an example of the latter.

Conclusion

Spiral is in the unique position of aiming to reboot the Saw franchise yet again while being the least connected with the main story and characters of the series.  Fans wondering what became of surviving Jigsaw successors Dr. Gordon and Logan, who may have never even met even if they heard of each other, will still have the same unresolved curiosity by the time the twists of Spiral have all been revealed.  This is indeed the most self-contained Saw movie other than the original, and the first film in the series is only self-contained because it is literally the start of something that was not even planned to be the major franchise it has become!  Whether someone will enjoy Spiral as much as the other films is a matter of which approach to storytelling they subjectively prefer, but there is plenty in Spiral that both honors series norms (like the regular use of flashbacks) and heads in new directions that could be promising if a sequel is made.

Content:

 1.  Violence:  Situated between the tamer and most graphic scenes in the Saw series, the trap scenes are actually not the as close to the center of attention as they are in earlier films.  Some of them do very briefly show people losing their tongue or fingers, but they are rather few and far between.

 2.  Profanity:  There are many uses of "fuck" surrounded by more infrequent uses of "shit" and "damn."