Spiral: Its Actually Fun to Guess Twists

It's hard to call Spiral a 'reboot,' when Jigsaw only came out in 2017. It's certainly a continuation of the series, only it took the decision to sidestep the main killer altogether and keep the concept of the Saw films.

We follow Zeke (Chris Rock), as a mysterious masked killer creates deadly games to take out his co-workers, all cops. This isn't Billy the puppet, it's, perhaps too on-the-nose-ly, a pig. (Or maybe this is a nice nod to those iconic, but random, pig masks from the original series.)

Spiral makes reference to the much called back Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer, but only in so far as to say he's dead. Nowhere is there a Tobin Bell flashback, not even a Stan Lee-esque cameo. It feels like a break in tradition, but is understandable as this film is, well, more of a film.

Gone are those awkward transitions, such as the infamous car one, and those shaking, jerky camera rotations. Gone is the rock-soundtrack for something more cinematic. Whilst it makes us take it more seriously as a film, it is these strange choices that made the series grow such a fanbase. There's something weird about seeing a Saw film that's actually trying.

That being said, the movie continues the main attraction of the franchise; the gory traps. They are all gruesomely creative with plenty of blood to satiate the want for a bit of torture porn. Even if they lean a little too closely to the inescapable that the other films have been criticised for.

Zeke is also, after an awkward first five minutes, not an unlikable character. He's not a blundering fool, he's a character with actual conflict and goals, and they work well in formulating the main themes of the movie. The focus on crooked cops is an interesting take for the series and as always the question is how far is too far for revenge? (The answers in this case is, death-traps are probably a step too far, but never mind.)

The centre of the story is Zeke and Willam (Max Minghella)'s relationship. The classic old cop, new rookie relationship that starts off very by the numbers. A lot of people saw the twist coming, and I did too, but that can be the hallmark of a good twist. The audience is meant to pick up clues of twists, they're not meant to come out of nowhere, as is the case with so many Hollywood shows and movies currently. Saws also working at a disadvantage because one of its main hallmarks is a good twist. (Complete with excessive flashbacks to explain said twist.) Guessing the twist makes the reader feel smart - it makes them feel satisfaction when its revealed and they were right.

And I was very satisfied that I was right, even if my logic was different from the movies. (Spoilers: surely it's easier to cut off your tattoo than learn to tattoo well enough to make such a good copy? I've binged enough Inkmaster to know that.)

The other characters, of course, are torture fodder, and that goes for Samuel L Jackson too. What they lack in depth, they make up for in gruesome deaths. That's just what's expected of the genre.

Overall, Spiral wasn't bad. It delivered what it set out to do, tried its hand at creating a new puppet, delivered on some bloody scenes and overall delivered a comprehensible plot. It may not be enough to lift the franchise back up, but its by no means a bad addition to the line-up.