I’m just going to come out and say it. Spiral: From the Book of Saw was so ridiculous it was laughable. Whoever thought of casting Samuel L. Jackson as a victim and Chris Rock as a maverick detective should be fired.

Synopsis: After blowing the whistle on his former partner, Zeke Banks (Chris Rock) has been ostracized by everyone in the force. Years later, a copycat Jigsaw killer is going after dirty cops and picks out Zeke to take the test.

Here’s the deal. Apart from the gory tests, and the mechanical contraptions, Spiral did not command any of the elements that made the original franchise so effective.

There was no John Kramer type character whose subtle brilliance made the twists at the end so satisfying. There was no extraordinary twist to trump previous twists in the franchise.

Sure, there were attempts to capture the audience’s interest with the casting of Samuel L. Jackson, an undisputed legend of the action genre and all. But Jackson’s presence alone was not enough to save the movie.

Also, there were attempts to misdirect from the real copycat, but the very bad acting of the rest of the cast, including Chris Rock really sunk the movie. Everyone was either overacting or underacting. Its not for the lack of trying in the part of funnyman Chris Rock. Its just that his demeanor, coupled with his voice just seemed whiny, instead of tough. He was an unbelievable hero. You kept waiting for him to drop a punchline. The movie would have been better off to cast a newbie for the part.

Another disconnect? Instead of the usual team dynamic, the victims were picked off one by one, with Zeke being the main target of the challenge. As the layers of corruption were unpeeled, so were the viewers’ patience.

The stylistic elements were admirable but the vaudevillian performances made the film seem like it was setting up for one final joke. And by its end, it seemed like it was. the film worked hard to set up for the final reveal but by the time it arrived, most would have given up already.

The original Saw franchise was gripping, intense and engaging. This sequel reboot better known nowadays as a requel was none of the above. The franchise should have stopped a long time ago. The last one was already boring. This installment outright sucked.