Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks sets out on an investigation of some grisly murders that are spookily familiar to one of the city’s most gruesome killers. Zeke and his rookie partner have no idea what they are about to embark on as they become the center of the murderer’s morbid game.

I must say, I was quite intrigued by the revival of the Saw movies in this movie spiral. I love the idea of putting Chris Rock and Samuel L Jackson together in a movie. Immediately upon viewing this film, you definitely notice the grungy environments, and the gore reminiscent of the Saw movies. “Jigsaw” screenwriters Josh Stolberg & Pete Goldfinger have done their due diligence and written a true-to-form sequel here as the new killer is using guise that much aligns with the Saw movies. However, instead of using a spiral-cheeked ventriloquist’s dummy they are using a few piglike animals.

The movie basically starts with “Zeke” finding a body on the subway tracks and realizes it is a former colleague of his. Zeke’s dad(Samuel L. Jackson), a retired Police Chief, enters the movie and the two of them determine by MO that this could be a copycat killer. After leaving the scene, Zeke goes back to the office to find a zip drive with the message “play me” on it. The zip drive gives him his first clue. A spiral has been painted on the side of a courthouse. When Zeke gets to the courthouse he finds another clue. A turquoise box, bigger this time, contains a spine-chilling surprise – Bozwick’s tongue and his badge. Using the new information Zeke’s rookie partner William Schenk, played by Max Minghella, searches the police records, and lets Zeke know that his former co-worker had a problem with lying to the court when on the stand. What we incurred from these findings is that the killer has a vendetta to fill with the South Central Police Department’s corruption.

Zeke continues to investigate but faces some adversity because of his own crooked ways. This crooked cop bit started twelve years prior and is inserted into the movie with micro-scenes. Zeke’s father starts to drop out of the movie and is missing when Zeke calls him to no avail. The detective starts to wonder if it could be his father that has the vendetta toward the police department.

There is a lot you could have done with this movie, and for that, I think it falls short. The scenery is almost too dark and the acting is loud and obnoxious(the obnoxious part is the 80’s cop themed beginning). Samuel L. is always good and Chris Rock’s comedic nature does come and go but was it right for this film? No. The contraptions are familiar but the theme is not. Nothing super interesting happens throughout the film. I am not saying that this is the worst film in the franchise, but it’s close.

2 out of 5 Charms