Spiral: From the Book of Saw

When Saw hit theaters back in 2004 it was something of a shock to the system. The movie seemed like something new. I personally was less than enthusiastic in my initial review. I felt that the film makers lacked conviction in the conceit that they offered. The movie was extraordinary when it was locked in the room with the two main characters. It was a bit like Sleuth (which, if you have not seen, you should see), a twisting labyrinthine game with anchored by two very strong performances. Sadly, the movie kept leaving that room to follow a rather boring police procedural plot that was just more of something that we had seen a million times. And, to add insult to injury, the procedural aspects were not well crafted.

Over the years the Saw franchise has only gone downhill. Each installment grew dumber than the last. I will say that Saw II was good, and managed some real surprises and twists, but it was an aberration. The rest of the series was very disappointing.

I thought that I was done with Saw. Then Chris Rock got me interested.  It seems like he has a genuinely new, and possibly interesting take on the material. Here is the trailer for Spiral: From the Book of Saw (which is a pretty bad title, but I'll give that a pass).

What do you think? Are you excited to see what Chris Rock has done to this franchise? Do you think he can reinvigorate it, or is this just a cynical cash grab?