By Scott Tibbs, April 8, 2007
Jigsaw is dying. When he went on his first rampage, it was to teach people the value of life because he knew that his own life would end soon due to cancer. As the cancer has ravaged his body, he is unable to even get out of bed and must have Amanda (who has been anointed as the next Jigsaw) take care of his every need. To stay alive long enough to play one more "game," Jigsaw has Amanda kidnap a doctor (Lynn) to keep him alive.
Jigsaw has another captive, Jeff. Jeff's life has been falling apart for the last few years as his rage over the death of his son has consumed him. He drinks heavily and his relationships with his wife and daughter are in shambles. Jeff will have three opportunities to learn forgiveness as he makes his way to Jigsaw.
He passes all three tests when he tries to save the lives of three people who wronged him from the sadistic traps set by Jigsaw, but only actually manages to save one of them. He reaches Jigsaw, where he is given a final test. Take revenge by killing Jigsaw, or have Jigsaw call an ambulance for Lynn… who turns out to be Jeff’s wife.
Jeff fails, and kills Jigsaw. Little does Jeff know that the device attached to his wife’s head will go off if Jigsaw’s heart monitor flatlines, so by killing Jigsaw he kills his wife. Jeff also dooms his daughter by taking revenge, because Jigsaw has trapped her in a room with a limited air supply. Only Jigsaw knows where the girl is, and now he is dead.
It has been said that on a human level, forgiveness is not for the person who is forgiven but for the person doing the forgiving. Hatred and bitterness poisons the soul and damages relationships with others. Jeff could not forgive, so he learned this lesson in a very dramatic and gruesome way.
While his motivation was to help Jeff cleanse his soul, Jigsaw is far from a sympathetic character because he is so sadistic. As has been the case with the previous two movies, there is a surprise ending, and the clues for that ending are spread about before the movie hits you over the head with it. Saw 3 was better than Saw 2, but the first movie was still the best. I think the concept worked better when we did not know who or where Jigsaw was.
Final Grade: B+