REVIEW: SPIRAL-FROM THE BOOK OF 'SAW'

3.5/5

Between a Rock and a Saw Place.

93 Mins. Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols & Samuel L. Jackson. Director: Darren Lynn Bousman. 

I want to play a game again. The buzz for 'Saw' is circling once more as Chris Rock spirals out of control with the blood and 'do you have the guts' horror franchise that beartrap's the box office like getting caught in a cabin in the woods. There's actually as many pieces to the 'Jigsaw' franchise as there are 'Fast and Furious' parts put together (there's a ninth on its way out the corona quarantined garage). So much so I'd rather hack my own arm off...just so I have something to throw at my TV (I see you Joey and Janice (OH. MY. GOD.) in the 'Friends Reunion'), than hide behind my couch at them all. But what can I say, everybody may hate Chris...but not me. Currently shaking his 'Tambourine' with Netflix for an extended run and a 'Total Blackout', the Pryor and Chappelle legendary 'Top Five' comedian like Seinfeld and Hicks is more than a joke as he says his most stand-up work is ahead of him. Just check his epic 'Plan For Immortality' feature story for Esquire and its iconic cover. Because right now carving into a 'Saw' spin-off that could play games with a franchise of its own, Rock of 'New Jack City', 'Fargo' and 'Pootie Tang' fame proves he has the acting chops once again. Copping a beat police role like the epic ensemble of 'Lethal Weapon 4' or the 'Bad Company' of Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins. He's not too old for this s### and playing a detective like the second skin of rolled up shirt sleeves, Chris rocks. He has us from the moment he talks about how Jenny only came back to 'Forrest Gump' when she had AIDS and how that film (that in Winston Groom's novel featured a boy monkey named Sue and a trip to space that crashed down into a community of cannibals and still felt believable...yes, I've recently read the book. Last week in fact) wouldn't fly (or run) today, hilariously like he's rehearsing a bit. Chris makes 'Spiral: From The Book Of Saw' (sounds like a violent read...especially in braille) worthy of a slice and not the cutting room floor. And if you need anymore convincing, Samuel L. Jackson plays his pops motherf#####s!

Copycat killers and B-movie brutal beauty dice their way through this play, the fourth film of its kind from devilish director Darren Lynn Bousman with original creators Leigh Whannel and 'Furious 7' wheelman James Wan behind the static screen of puppet string pulling production. The ninth instalment going bumper to bumper with the 'Fast' one across the finish line this Summer of the return of the blockbuster in Summers. And this one deserves its theatrical curtain as it is hallmark to the horror gruesome genre like a tricycle to your childhood, hold the red wagon. 'Saw' may be even more hilarious than that 'Scary Movie 4' skit when Shaq missed a free throw after Dr. Phil cut off the wrong leg. The one part I saw (whey!) featured a man having to choose between letting an elderly lady and a young man go. Except the kid was a loner and the old woman was the life of the party. They even exposition showed you pictures of the woman cutting up shapes on the dance floor and the guy sitting in the park with pigeons like a Keanu Reeves park bench meme, just in case you didn't know what they meant. How mean? But this one with the comedian has the last, lasting laugh. With a killer soundtrack from rapper 21 Savage that burns through this investigation and a 4th of July opening that's truly fireworks as Uncle Sam wants to kill you, the stage is set on the other side of the tracks and a Subway set-piece that will leave you wanting to throw up your sandwich. The meat, the veggies. Then, hidden behind aviator and a shady department that uses the badge as a cover of their corruption, Rock is caught between a good cops conscience and more bad clichés than donuts and coffee stains on the paperwork. But how he makes it work with the shot he gives it with his sprinkling of charisma. The jelly to whatever would just be another blood oozing fright fest of gratuitous moments and no substance. But Rock gives this its soul. Dealing with more sinners than 'Se7en' as he takes this low-budget version of that Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and the one that wasn't and now won't be named classic out the box like Denzel in 'Fallen'. Time may not be on his side, but clocking in his best lead to date is. Rock is a killer. He's already made you die laughing before and with this his trademark permanently pissed character acting elevates itself to something more deserving of a bigger picture, despite the money this one will make like a killing. One moment at his desk surrounded by the worst of what's supposed to be the best, accused of being involved in dialling M for murder and being a cop killer to his former partner and best friend, Chris gives the material even more for something that is not just another a day at the office. At this rate when it comes to how well this guy plays D.I's we never want to see him hand in his badge and gun until we're DOA and gone. 

Wax masks (and people complain about the one they need to wear right now), glass bottle recycling that at least won't hurt the planet and tongue vices that tied will leave yours bigger than the Rolling Stone's logo. This is the 'Saw' franchise you know and can't watch. But Chris' twist dislocates the usual trappings...which would make for a better alternative than taking your leg. But there's more parts to this piece than the lead detective. The always good and ever underrated Max Minghella makes his mark here budding up as Rock's partner. Even if the star of the show is on that typical, forced "I work alone" reluctance. But circling the drain in 'Spiral' soon this will become one member of the force Rock's Zeke won't close the blinds for. As 'The Social Network' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' star shows he is one beat away from taking the lead on his own patrol. This franchise starter could just be the case. Meanwhile 'Riverdale' and 'Teen Wolf' star Marisol Nichols really gets the promotion she deserves in captaincy as a chief of police keeping Rock in check and dealing with as much s### as Imodium in a unit dirtier than an explicit version of an album for a R rated movie that should come with a parental advisory sticker. It's the walking curse word Samuel L. Jackson that really gives this Academy more Oscar gold though in a man that could do this type of role in his sleep with a formidable filmography that seems to have even more movies than the horror genre itself...let alone the 'Saw' franchise. Having Rock and Jackson together on screen finally is an eagerly anticipated hype. But having Chris and Samuel play father and son like Cat Stevens. THAT'S a genius move. They say all horror stories are about the ones of humans like a Stephen King novel and 'The Book Of Saw' gives us a family connection with these two game changers of legendary black excellence like we were back in the 90's. Taking this 'Spiral' to heights that don't just go round in atypical clichéd circles. The police story of 'Saw's 'Spiral' doesn't go by the book, throwing everything like the kitchen sink at the wall until it sticks like a Tarantino blood splat. And that what makes this Jigsaw piece worthy of having its place. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Saw', 'Jigsaw', 'Se7en'.