Movie:
Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X
- Awesome Music:
- "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison from the trailer.
- The main theme heard in the opening logos.
This tells you that Jigsaw is finally back after 7 years. - The theme for Mitch's trap, "Cycle Trap", is a metal track that fits well into the scene, composed by none other than Charlie Clouser himself.
- Base-Breaking Character: Logan Nelson. Some fans are eager to see him one day make a return, as he seems to be the only Jigsaw apprentice who gets John's philosophy somewhat of the traps being tests, not for personal vengeance. On the other hand, many fans were simply exasperated that there was another secret Jigsaw apprentice.
- Captain Obvious Reveal:
- The film sets up a supposed mystery over whether John is Back from the Dead or if someone else is behind the new spree of Jigsaw killings. However, the latter is blatantly the case due to the series having never tackled supernatural themes once, and that John's autopsy in Saw IV was meant to show that he's already dead with huge emphasis.
- Thanks to the above, many viewers were able to see the Sequencing Deception that the barn game takes place before the first film. Not so much with Logan being the one behind the present killings, though.
- Contested Sequel: The fanbase is torn on whether it manages to be a good return to form that manages to make the 7 years waiting for a new installment in the series worth it or is simply just another case of the Sequelitis that's been plaguing the franchise. Of particular conflict is the reveal of another Jigsaw apprentice, which further complicates the already-complicated overarching Kudzu Plot.
- Critical Dissonance: Only 34% of critics liked the movie on Rotten Tomatoes, but a whopping 90% of audiences liked it.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Tobin Bell and Laura Vandervoort have both acted in R. L. Stine television adaptations (Bell had appeared in The Haunting Hour, while Vandervoort appeared in three episodes of Goosebumps (1995)).
- Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Most, if not all, of the victims in the Barn game are pretty despicable themselves, including the former first apprentice of the long-dead Jigsaw. However, the most dislikable of the bunch is Anna, who feigns innocence in spite of killing her baby and pinning the blame on her husband, who ended up committing suicide out of guilt. Ultimately, her selfishness doomed her and another trapped victim, who was left to rot beside her corpse.
- Magnificent Bastard: Logan Nelson is revealed to be the first apprentice of John "Jigsaw" Kramer, having been one of the people selected for one of Jigsaw's first games for accidentally mislabeling his X-ray. Saved by Jigsaw from death when he realized that Logan didn't deserve to die over an honest mistake, Logan assisted Jigsaw in his games, even helping build the infamous Reverse-Bear Trap. Ten years after Jigsaw's death, Logan proves himself to be a worthy successor to his mentor by successfully framing the corrupt Detective Halloran as the new Jigsaw killer; orchestrating a reenactment of the game he was chosen for, using criminals let off by Halloran; planting evidence against Halloran in his house; and finally trapping and killing Halloran himself, but not before getting him to confess to being responsible for the loss of innocent lives, including Logan's wife.
- Memetic Mutation: Halloran's head splitting into eight pieces has drawn comparisons to a plum, Terry's Chocolate Orange, Patrick Star or the Demogorgon.
- Moral Event Horizon: Anna definitely crossed this when she murdered her baby and framed her husband for it, causing the latter to kill himself out of guilt.
- Spiritual Successor: The film has been seen as a surprisingly close adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit, which it gives a highly prominent Shout-Out to. While it's not actually set in Hell, the main game, like the story of No Exit, revolves around a group of criminal people who can be redeemed from their suffering by simply confessing their sins to Jigsaw in front of the people around them — yet all of them are too proud to do, afraid of the shame that this would cause them and the judgment that they would receive from those around them, resulting in them paying the price. There are even very close parallels between the crimes committed by Estelle from No Exit and Anna, the two of them having both killed their infant children in such a manner that drove their lovers to suicide.
