Fantastic (For a Saw Movie) An absolute thriller from start to finish, "Spiral: From the Book of Saw", though conventionally bad (all Saw movies are conventionally bad, nonetheless) excelled at what it was trying to achieve -- to be a good Saw movie. And it was.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked it. I'd made the mistake of reading the critic reviews before seeing the movie, so my hopes were incredibly low upon entering the theater. That was a misstep on my part; I absolutely loved the film. I'd even go as far as to call it my favorite Saw movie.
One thing to rave about in particular is the film's signature ending twist; the way they set it up was incredible. When it came, my friend and I were squeezing each others hands, aghast at what we'd just seen. We didn't see it coming at all! It was the first time that the franchise had EVER surprised me, and keep in mind, it's over a decade old.
The traps were tasteful and creative, serving crude justice like they'd intended. The ending in particular was just perfect; without spoiling anything, depending on how you looked at it, Jigsaw could have been the hero all along and the cops could have been the villains. It really gets your 'gears' turning (Get it? Because mechanical traps?) and makes you think twice about where the real evil lies.
For a Saw movie, it was perfect. Everything I'd hoped for and more. 8/10.