Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Written by Josh Stolberg, Pete Goldfinger
Starring Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan David Jones
Rated R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, pervasive language, some sexual references and brief drug use
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
In theaters May 14

by A. Freedman, Staff Writer

While we live through an endless cycle of reboots and remakes, the Saw franchise was always happy to be shameless in its justification for more sequels. It seemed like the type of property that never needed to reboot, it could just keep on going exactly as it was, never meeting a plot hole it couldn't ret-con. Seventeen years after the original was released on a $5 million budget, the series has finally tried to hit the reset button to fit the times we are living in. Along comes Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, starring and produced by none other than Chris Rock. A Saw movie never needs to be "about" something in particular, other than Jigsaw's twisted, psychopathic philosophy, but the best sequel (Saw VI) took a chance and had at least one other topic on its mind, the awful state of American health insurance. Spiral follows that lead, taking on one of the biggest issues of our day: police reform. That it even gets part of the way there is enough to get you nodding your head and raising your eyebrow.

The story goes that Chris Rock–a big fan of the series–got Lionsgate to take him up on his idea for a new Saw story. They agreed. That rebel spirit informs the outcome here. This doesn't feel like your typical legacy-quel rife with throwbacks and fan service. It feels like a new idea inspired by the potential of an old one. Rock stars as Detective Zeke Banks, a joke-cracking cop in a gritty city (there's an overhead shot of downtown Philadelphia, but the city is just an anonymous "Metro" area) who takes young newcomer Detective Schenk (Max Minghella) under his wing while a brutal murder recalls the methods of the Jigsaw killer.

Immediately, it feels clear that Spiral has other movies on its mind far outside of the horror realm- from Training Day to Serpico, it wants to emulate the gritty corrupt cop movies of yesterday, leaving plenty of room on the budget for fake mustaches. Following in the tradition of another cop movie that played in the horror sandbox–Seven–Spiral is a murder mystery set in an urban nightmare that's only getting worse.

This killer is different though. The Jigsaw killer was laser focused on individuals who betrayed themselves or took advantage of societal loopholes. Complete with a different style, voice and method, the new killer just wants to change one system, the police. One might think it a little on the nose–a ploy to get butts in seats after Derek Chauvin just got sent to prison–but this movie was already in the can way before the pandemic. Call it perfect timing, or just call it timeless. Yet aside from the look and feel, all the ploys of the franchise are easily transferable to this slightly different world.

When Zeke's father, a retired police chief played by Samuel L. Jackson, may or may not figure into the mix, Zeke gets pulled in even deeper. Suddenly, he's in the middle of the mystery. I was able to guess the final twist about halfway through, but it made the traditional final expository dump no less enjoyably absurd.

Jackson is an inspired choice to play a gruff old policeman, and the movie takes full advantage of his gifted diction with swear words to score some big laughs. He isn't in it all that much–maybe just got paid to be on set for three days–but he lends the film some good weight, as easily the biggest movie star to ever grace the franchise.

It would certainly help to have seen some of the Saw movies before this, but it is not at all a requirement. This reboot is big enough to bring in a whole new generation of fans. One gets the feeling that the world of Saw is going to come back into the culture in a big way after this movie- we shall see just how many chapters this "book of Saw" turns out to be.