Spiral (original title Spiral: The Book of Saw) is a part of the Saw franchise that has become somewhat predictable. The director is Darren Lynn Bousman who also directed Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), and Saw IV (2007). I enjoyed those Saw films despite their redundancy. I feel the same way about Spiral because of the cleverness of the murder trail and the way the clock ticks until someone’s fate of survival is tested. This film has grade A actors ranging from Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson to Max Minghella. I found the humor displayed by Rock’s character to be where Spiral provides entertaining shock value, even though the film has a repetitive structure like other Saw films made since 2004.

Chris Rock is Det. Zeke Banks who is working after his father, Marcus (Samuel L. Jackson), a police veteran is off the force. Banks is a detective with his own set of personal problems in his life and in his career. His career becomes more haunting as he is partnered with another detective, William Schenk, to unfold a murder that happens in a subway system. What starts to happen is the same symbol from a previous crime scene keeps showing up for Banks and Schenk. Then more people who fall into the hands of this grisly murderer start to die one by one. The victims have a chance to survive, but their fate is tested, and so is the faith of detective Banks as the murderous trail starts to link back to him and his family. The question of the murderer is if it’s someone that Banks already knows or someone outside his world who only goes after those who have sinned.

As the film progressed, it still felt repetitive given the approach is the same as how other Saw movie begin. The sequence begins with a murder or a death, and then a deadly trail of puzzles and questions with little to no time to save the victims. These dark elements were entertaining due to Rock, Jackson, and Minghella.  While we have seen these famous actors for years in all kinds of movies, the only one who has done dark films on this level is Jackson. For Rock and Minghella, they take their performances to a different level than what their fans are used to.

I give Spiral’s directorcredit for keeping its shock and scare momentum, but I still feel it is too much like the previous Saw films. There is a plus side to the torture and twist elements, and that is the messages they leave for the fans. Specifically, the message is that the trail is not over yet. Therefore, the fans can expect more mystery and suspense in the future. Of course, many Saw fans are just anxiously awaiting more torture scenes.

Overall, I experienced some fun moments with Spiral. I was disappointed that I was not taken by surprise as much as I has anticipated. While enjoyable, it is not a film I would watch many times. I hope if there are more Saw films down the line, that the puzzles have me think more. Two and a half stars.

Eight years ago, director Denis Villeneuve directed Prisoners. The title Prisoners still grabs my attention today as much as it did in 2013. The film is a silent, yet haunting thriller that holds its viewers on the edge of their seats. With many questions, no answers, tons of lacking evidence, and one man that will take risks in his own hands to find his daughter. Despite all the efforts the assigned detective is doing, that may not be enough. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performances are riveting and outstanding. Villeneuve’s directing makes us wonder who is more of the one to trust in a film where time of the essence of survival is critical.

The film begins on Thanksgiving with Keller Dover (Jackman), Grace Dover (played by Maria Bello), and their kids Ralph Dover (played by Dylan Minnette), and Anna Dover (played by Erin Gerasimovich). The Dover’s have Thanksgiving dinner at their neighbor’s house, and they are the Birch family. This includes Franklin and Nancy Birch (played by Terrence Howard and Viola Davis), and their daughter Eliza Birch (played by Zoe Soul). After the thanksgiving festivities Anna and Eliza decide to go over to the Dover’s to hangout, then after a while both families come to realize their daughters are not to be found. Both families are in panic mode and scared. They realize there is only one lead being an RV on their street because of how both Anna and Eliza played on it earlier in the day. The police get involved and there is a detective assigned and he is Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal). He finds the RV and a victim in the RV established. That victim is Alex Jones (played by Paul Dano). Jones was driving the RV but has a low IQ and delays in communication. Mr. Dover believes that Alex is either the kidnapper or is associated with why his daughter is missing. As the authorities go lenient on Alex (due to his mental state of mind and lack of evidence), Mr. Dover begins to take drastic steps to find the answers of where his daughter might be. But also, Detective Loki questions Mr. Dover’s thinking.

What sold me on Prisoners so much was the conflict of conversations between Mr. Dover and Detective Loki. Detective Loki knows Mr. Dover may be up to no good (and he is up to no good), but also the leads or evidence to find the daughters are little. The film becomes a raise for three problems. The first one being the girls missing, the second one being what Mr. Dover is doing to try and find his daughter, and the other being little to no time for survival of the missing girls. The judgment of both the individuals are mentally stressful. At the same time more harm or danger is building for everyone. Prisoners has a trail of deceit, dishonesty, and evidence that fail where Detective Loki and Mr. Dover begin to not be able to mentally handle the situation.

Prisoners is a masterpiece with obscurity done thoroughly. The suspense is eerie and so is its faded cinematography and spooky use of music. The outcomes in the investigations are unsettling. Despite how creepy Prisoners gets, it characterizes suspense. Four stars!

With summer abound and this year starting to feel like a year for films again, I saw Heat at the Music Box of downtown Chicago. Heat is one of the best films directed by Michael Mann. This nostalgic experience was worth the experience at the Music Box. When it comes to heist films, Heat is one of those thrillers where the risks are high, and the cat and mouse game gets more suspenseful in many ways. Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino are just brilliant in this thriller, and from both being part of the Godfather series, re-experiencing Heat made me feel that both characters meet again but are on different sides.

Heat takes place in Los Angeles in the 1990s. The film gears on professional bank robbers where a mission goes awry. The head of the thieves is Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and his assistant in his heists operations is Chris Shiherlis (played by Val Kilmer). The detective onto their cases is Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino). The film takes a toll on both McCauley and Hanna as they both are after each other but also trying to maintain their troubled lives and careers as the case worsens. It is only a matter of time before one or both (cop and criminal) fall into being in much trouble.

In Heat I come to realize that the film is almost at the three-hour mark. The film did not feel like three hours. The puzzles, the shootouts, the case operations all make the time pass and then make one mission go awry, while another needs to be investigated or on surveillance. Pacino and DeNiro’s performances add to the tension and the excitement as both are known to portray characters that are short-fused. With Pacino, his performance reminded me a lot of Scarface (1983), but now he is not the one who is the criminal, he is the one after the criminals, but displays that anger as he did play Tony Montana. Along with DeNiro having the attitude as he did as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), however DeNiro is still the criminal in Heat.

Overall, this was an experience that was not to be missed. I find that watching these thrillers many years later the big screen feels like a new experience. Especially for those who have not watched Heat before, or who have not watched it in a while. The film is still a thrill ride of crazy shootouts and tension that is a stellar time. Four stars for Heat.