New ‘Saw 8’ Aka ‘Jigsaw’ Top Movie Critic Reviews Have Arrived

Lionsgate released their new horror/thriller sequel flick, Saw 8 aka “Jigsaw” into theaters today, October 27,2017, and all the top movie critics have wrote up their official opinion/reviews for it.

We found seven of them on the Metacritic.com site. Over there, the overall score turned out to be pretty mixed with a total average score of 44 out of a possible 100. The rest of the critic reviews we got are from Rottentomatoes.com ,. They also gave it an overall score of 44 percent.

Jigsaw stars: Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Clé Bennett, Hannah Emily Anderson, Laura Vandervoort, Mandela Van Peebles, Paul Braunstein, Brittany Allen and Josiah Black.

It was directed by Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig. It was written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger.

We’ve provided a brief excerpt from all the top critics (below) which summarizes how they pretty much felt about the movie.

Kyle Turner over at The Wrap gave it a 65 out of a 100 score. He thinks the set pieces were impressive, but the traps seemed pretty basic. He stated, “There are a couple of impressive set pieces in Jigsaw, but the traps seem fairly rudimentary, and it’s up to the camera work to provide the needed jolts.”

Kim Newman over at Empire gave it a 60 grade. He thinks hardcore Saw fans will enjoy it. But ,if you don’t like the franchise, this one won’t change your mind. He said, “If you don’t like Saw, this isn’t going to change your mind, but it’s skillful, satisfying schlock and respectful of its fan base. And the final death is a show-stopping coup de grace.”

Noel Murray from the Los Angeles Times gave it a 50 score. He doesn’t think it was awful, but would’ve rather just rewatched the original Saw film. He stated, “Jigsaw isn’t awful. It’ll do the job for anyone who must see a “Saw” movie in theaters on Halloween weekend. But a trip to a real-world escape room — or rewatching the original “Saw” — might be a better use of time and money.”

Owen Gleiberman from Variety gave it a 50 score. He thinks it no longer gives the same kind of shock value it once did, but did have its occasional moments. He said,”For 92 minutes, it more or less succeeds in sawing through your boredom, slicing and dicing with a glum explicitness that raises the occasional tingle of gross-out suspense but no longer carries any kick of true shock value.”

Cath Clarke from The Guardian gave it a very poor 40 grade. She definitely didn’t like it. She called it depressing and is wondering why they dragged this movie back after so long. She stated, “Why drag the franchise back now? The screamingly obvious answer is sheer cash-grab cynicism. Or perhaps it’s to cater to the generation of kids who’ve grown up riding the Saw-themed roller coaster at Thorpe Park. Either way, it’s depressing.”

Michael Gingold from Time Out New York gave it a 40 score too. He didn’t think it was very scary all stating,”Despite its meticulously detailed gore, Jigsaw is rarely scary.”

Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter gave it a 40 score. He thought it was repetitious and mechanical. He also thinks they could’ve put more effort into this after such a long layoff. He stated, “Considering the long amount of time since the last installment, you’d think that more effort would have been put into creatively reviving the franchise. But Jigsaw just seems rote and mechanical, with long stretches of its running time feeling like a police procedural or CSI spinoff.”

Brian Orndorf from Blu-ray.com gave it a D grade on Rottentomatoes.com. He thinks it just offered up the same old stuff it always has and just seems deflated and desperate! He stated, “Jigsaw is simply the same old stuff, only more deflated and desperate, missing visual oomph, ghoulish imagination, and a reason to be.”

Phil Villarreal from ABC Tucson gave it a positive 3 out 4 score on Rotten Tomatoes. He thinks everything pretty much fit together right despite being flimsy. He said, “The pieces may be flimsy, but they manage to fit.”

Dustin Putman from TheFrightFile.com gave it a 2.5 out 4 score at Rotten Tomatoes. His excerpt was pretty favorable claiming it’s just what the coroner ordered. He said, “As a one-off serving fans a nostalgic dose of a mid-2000s fad, it’s just what the coroner ordered.”

Ian Sandwell from Digital Spy gave it a 3 out of 5 score on Rotten Tomatoes. He thinks it offered a lot of grisly, devious twists and greatest hits from the series. He also thinks it had a good return to form stating, “Grisly, deviously twisted and wince-inducing, Jigsaw plays like a greatest hits of the Saw series, blended up to if not a series high, then certainly a return to form.”

Fred Topel from We Live Entertainment gave it a review. Rotten Tomatoes didn’t show what his score was for some reason. However, they did list an excerpt from him. He thinks the traps were much higher tech than the old ones and remained true to the old plotline of anticipating your every move.

He stated, “The traps are much higher tech than John Kramer’s old rusty Rube Goldberg machines, but they remain true to his spirit of anticipating your every move before you even knew you were going to make it. That’s what’s important.”

Luke Y. Thompson from The Wizard gave it a review at Rotten Tomatoes. There was no score listed for him either. In his excerpt, he expressed that this sequel was better than some of the previous ones. He stated, “This is a capable enough Saw sequel, definitely better than parts 4, 5, and 7.”

Scott Mendelson over at Forbes.com gave it a 3 out of 10 score at Rotten Tomatoes. He basically doesn’t think this sequel wasn’t good enough to justify it even being made stating, “It doesn’t justify a seven-years-later return of a once novel/unique horror franchise.”

Ed Potton over at the Times UK gave it a 2 out of 5 score on Rotten Tomatoes. In his excerpt, he basically just rejoiced the films return, and didn’t really offer a solid opinion. We’re sure he does in his full review though.

His excerpt reads like this: “Torture-porn fans rejoice! The franchise that lumbered on for seven films and grossed almost a billion dollars has been revived, meaning that another group of luckless so-and-so’s are facing a series of gruesome tests that they probably won’t survive.”

Rob Leane from Den Of Geeks website, gave it a 3 out of 5 score. He thinks the cast really sold this film, and that the 90 minute runtime went by pretty fast. He stated, “The cast just about sells it all making the brisk runtime fly by. You’ll wince, you’ll wile away 90 minutes, and you’ll struggle to work it all out. What more do you expect from a Saw film?”

Staci Layne Wilson from Dread Central delivered a review. Her score was not listed on Rotten Tomatoes. She didn’t think this one really pushed any boundaries and was just more of a by-the-numbers action. She stated, “It’s more by-the-numbers action than grab-you horror. Jigsaw’s screenwriters don’t have the guts to push beyond the boundaries.”

Lastly, James Marsh from the South China Morning Post gave it a 2 out of 5 score on Rotten Tomatoes. He thought it featured lots of gore, but just didn’t compare to some of the horrific scenes that some of the previous sequels offered up. He stated, “The Spierigs give us gore aplenty, but nothing that can compare to a pit of hypodermic needles or the unflinching brutality of hacking off one’s own foot.”

Alright guys. That’s all the critic reviews that are out for the latest Saw franchise flick “Jigsaw.”Judging from them, it sounds like diehard Saw fans will enjoy it. Overall though, the critics definitely expressed mixed feelings about it.

What did you guys think about the critics’ opinions? Did they sway your decision of going to see it or not? If you saw it already, do you agree with any of them? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned. Also, be sure to follow us on our Movie News Facebook page for more movie news, reviews and more by Clicking Here.