Fifty Dead Men Walking | Saw VI - Prague, Czech Republic

His friend Sean (Kevin Zegers), however, is a low-level IRA operative. The Special Branch of British police has been monitoring Sean and Martin on CCTV monitors; an agent named Fengus (Ben Kingsley) has Martin picked up in the hopes of turning him into an informant. Of course, he declines. Later on, Martin witnesses IRA members put bullets into the legs of a kid who was walking around with a tire iron; the kid happened to be the brother of Lara (Natalie Press), a girl Martin has eyes for. Later on, Martin is offered the chance to work for the IRA, becoming a driver for a high-ranking member (Tom Collins).

The titular Fifty Dead Men Walking is the estimate of the lives Martin saved over years; Martin gives Fengus information on upcoming IRA actions, and (mostly) British officers are spared. It´s entirely disingenuous. Martin´s actions directly lead to the deaths of IRA members; some killed by British forces, one is accused of being the spy and tortured to death in front of Martin´s eyes. A complex equation is needed to determine the actual number of Martin´s Dead Men Walking, but if we take the (reasonable) stance that his actions helped to fuel the war, that number might turn up negative.

Of course, this isn´t the movie´s fault. I have no doubt that McGartland’s book, also called Fifty Dead Men Walking, painted a different story, but the McGartland here is something of a pathetic character, and the film stops short of turning him into a hero. It leans that way, sure, but even as Fengus credits him with saving fifty lives towards the end, we can´t help but think of the lives that he cost, and everything he lost along the way. McGartland is still living today, the end scrawl tells us, constantly on the move after surviving a 1999 retaliation shooting; he hasn´t seen his family since he went into hiding. He´s also disowned this film adaptation of his novel, calling it “as near to the truth as Earth is to Pluto.” Which is just as well.

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Admittedly, these sequels have an appealing degree of inventiveness. Most horror sequels give us, plotwise, a rehash of a previous film, or something with only a strained connection to the original. Not these Saw films, which all take place within a matter of weeks (days?), and keep doubling back on themselves, revealing information that sheds new light on events of the previous films. That´s not enough to make a successful film, as the last two entries have proven, but while Saw VI continues in this fashion, it also provides the kind of forward-moving, self-contained story that the franchise has been missing since part III.

Jigsaw/John Kramer (Tobin Bell) has been dead since part III, but that hasn´t put an end to his Rube Goldberg death devices. Saw VI picks up right where Part V ended, as we learn that Agent Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has become Jigsaw´s post-mortem accomplice, and he´s framing the deceased Agent Strahm for his actions. Hoffman has two obstacles to overcome in the film: keeping an eye on Agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) and associates, who are investigating the murders and coming closer to identifying Jigsaw´s accomplice(s), and carrying out Jigsaw´s final(?) game.