Spiral: From the Book of Saw – A Brutal Reimagining (Early Review)

When it seemed like the SAW franchise was done for, it always finds a way to come back. Known for gruesome traps, they are now back in Spiral (or Spiral: From the Book of Saw). But what’s different this time around or perhaps most importantly, why even bring the franchise back? The exploits of Chris Rock, a fan of the SAW franchise are well noted and it shows as he is certainly the best part of this installment but just don’t call it Saw 9. Without giving anything away, the traps are certainly there and they definitely do not shy away from their brutality (definitely making the film earn its R rating) and the film takes place in the same world as Jigsaw and the rest of the franchise. Audiences shouldn’t worry if they may not have seen any previous films in the franchise as a vague knowledge of the franchise as a whole (i.e. the traps) should suffice in order to get by here. To this film’s credit, it does make an attempt to offer something more than the franchise’s arguably mostly-exploitative roots by framing it as a crime thriller. While it doesn’t quite work as either, it is still an entertaining watch which fans of the franchise should enjoy. That being said, it certainly won’t be converting anyone and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Spiral tells the story of a brash detective named Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Rock) working in the shadow of his father, esteemed police captain Marcus Banks (Jackson). Paired with rookie partner William Schenk (Max Minghella), the two are tasked to investigate a series of murders reminiscent to those from the city’s past. Little did they know that their case would devolve into a deeper unravelling mystery, putting Zeke at the center of a game between himself and the wouldbe killer. Driven by his personal connection to the case and his need to escape his father’s shadow post exposing a crooked cop within his own department which put a target on his back thus hindering his and Schenk;s investigation. In a way, the killer put a target on Zeke’s back with the delivery of increasingly gruesome clues pointing him towards their next victim.

Built off the back of a derivative backstory, Spiral was on the predictable side though still managed to be entertaining to watch in spite of that thanks to Zeke. Perhaps satirizing 90s serious investigation thrillers, the dialog was terrible but it added to the film’s charm. Meanwhile, the killer’s victims unwittingly found themselves part of a series of elaborate and inventive traps reminiscent to that of the Jigsaw killer who remained in the back of the minds of the authorities with that same level of brutality and gore. However, there was something different about these killings this time around. As their endgame and motives became abundantly clear, much to the surprise of absolutely no one as all the signs were plainly there for all to see, the film got even more ridiculous as it attempted to tie threads together leading to its climax. Devised as a new franchise of sorts, one could only imagine how that climax eventually goes while wherever it ultimately goes from there narratively remains to be seen.

As mentioned, Rock is the best part of Spiral by far as his energy, maybe giving it too much at times, keeps it afloat. Widely known as more of a comedic action, his charisma and screen presence fuel his dynamic performance as Zeke. He was fun to watch and fit nicely in this world as he took charge of the investigation with the kind of intensity and reckless abandon that went too far at times but it still worked in this story. The only one who came remotely close to his energy unsurprisingly was Jackson as Marcus but his role in the film was nowhere near what its promotional material implied which was disappointing. Nevertheless in what little time he actually had, his chemistry with Rock was strong. The film should have given them more scenes together if only to ground the father-son relationship at the center of the story.

In the end, Spiral tried to do something different and while it didn’t all work, it was still a shot worth taking and is still well worth the watch.

still courtesy of Mongrel Media

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.