Spiral: From the Book of Saw (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2021)
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:36 pm
Spiral: From the Book of Saw is sort of weird. In both an expected and unexpected way. The expected one is its way-past-borderline incompetent editing, which creates a clearly unintentional distancing effect in that it obfuscates actions and realizations to the point of near-incomprehensibility. Dev Singh has edited 9 feature films; outside of Spiral: From the Book of Saw* I've heard of exactly zero of them.
The second one, which caught me off-guard, is kind of political. Here is a decidedly pro-police picture — even beyond the inevitable ways in which a film about two cops investigating cop murders would be (officer Zeke reminds us that cops maintain the highest depression and suicide rate) — that tries to address the issue of police reform. It does so in an amusingly centrist way — the villain is intent on killing cops, but #notallcops ("You want me to help you kill cops?" "No, fuck no. Just the bad ones."). In its dipshit way, Spiral tries to be critical of the police ("These cops are not gonna clean up on their own. Well fix the broken department."; "That's what cops do, shoot first, ask questions later."). It tries to acknowledge the issues plaguing the department and submits that there needs to be change. Yet the instigator of said change is the maniac who tortures and kills in elaborate and unambiguously evil ways. Zeke insists he isn't "woke" (in the context of arguing that Forrest Gump shouldn't be called a "retard"), and neither is this movie, though it feigns progressivism in a weird fashion, before claiming "sure, there are bad cops, but most are heroes sacrificing life, limb and mental health in their mission to protect and serve; reform is necessary, but getting rid of the 'few bad apples' in such a way is hardly the answer". Fine, but then what is? Saw-style mutilation and murder is radical and sadistic, passivity is enabling the broken system that led to children growing up without their (innocent) fathers. If the cops are not gonna clean up on their own, who will? Who'll fix these departments? The villains suggests he is the answer, but certainly we're not meant to sit and nod in agreement.
I'm not saying that this dumbass torture porn flick should answer, or even pose, such questions. I'm instead latching onto the only element of interest in the 114th installment of a stale franchise. Here is an example of a film that addresses topical problems, and submits to the leftist notion of "things are not okay, change is necessary", before embracing the conservative idea of the cops as saviors and the bastards among them as a rare occurence. The force that wants to bring change to the police force is presented as vile and immoral. But then who's to bring that change? Zeke enables the behavior of his corrupt colleagues, but he's the hero that wants to kill the man that's not going to take it anymore. Killing a few rotten apples in every department is hardly effective or sustainable, but regardless this is a film in which the villain symbolizes necessary change, and the heroes symbolize clinging to the systems in place even while recognizing their flaws.
* I find it utterly hilarious that From the Book of Saw is not a tagline or whatever the adequate term would be, but literally part of the official title. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story × 1000. Hobbit: From the Book of The Lord of the Rings.
Oh, also I think it's funny how every single "bad apple" chooses mutilation over death, but still dies because they weren't fast enough or something; you can't have it both ways every time, movie!
The second one, which caught me off-guard, is kind of political. Here is a decidedly pro-police picture — even beyond the inevitable ways in which a film about two cops investigating cop murders would be (officer Zeke reminds us that cops maintain the highest depression and suicide rate) — that tries to address the issue of police reform. It does so in an amusingly centrist way — the villain is intent on killing cops, but #notallcops ("You want me to help you kill cops?" "No, fuck no. Just the bad ones."). In its dipshit way, Spiral tries to be critical of the police ("These cops are not gonna clean up on their own. Well fix the broken department."; "That's what cops do, shoot first, ask questions later."). It tries to acknowledge the issues plaguing the department and submits that there needs to be change. Yet the instigator of said change is the maniac who tortures and kills in elaborate and unambiguously evil ways. Zeke insists he isn't "woke" (in the context of arguing that Forrest Gump shouldn't be called a "retard"), and neither is this movie, though it feigns progressivism in a weird fashion, before claiming "sure, there are bad cops, but most are heroes sacrificing life, limb and mental health in their mission to protect and serve; reform is necessary, but getting rid of the 'few bad apples' in such a way is hardly the answer". Fine, but then what is? Saw-style mutilation and murder is radical and sadistic, passivity is enabling the broken system that led to children growing up without their (innocent) fathers. If the cops are not gonna clean up on their own, who will? Who'll fix these departments? The villains suggests he is the answer, but certainly we're not meant to sit and nod in agreement.
I'm not saying that this dumbass torture porn flick should answer, or even pose, such questions. I'm instead latching onto the only element of interest in the 114th installment of a stale franchise. Here is an example of a film that addresses topical problems, and submits to the leftist notion of "things are not okay, change is necessary", before embracing the conservative idea of the cops as saviors and the bastards among them as a rare occurence. The force that wants to bring change to the police force is presented as vile and immoral. But then who's to bring that change? Zeke enables the behavior of his corrupt colleagues, but he's the hero that wants to kill the man that's not going to take it anymore. Killing a few rotten apples in every department is hardly effective or sustainable, but regardless this is a film in which the villain symbolizes necessary change, and the heroes symbolize clinging to the systems in place even while recognizing their flaws.
* I find it utterly hilarious that From the Book of Saw is not a tagline or whatever the adequate term would be, but literally part of the official title. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story × 1000. Hobbit: From the Book of The Lord of the Rings.
Oh, also I think it's funny how every single "bad apple" chooses mutilation over death, but still dies because they weren't fast enough or something; you can't have it both ways every time, movie!