X frames Kramer like a tragic hero instead of a complete maniac with a thing for Rube Goldberg homicide, and swears by the wobbly moral mechanism he believes will balance his soul’s ledger.

[Previous reboots] both failed to grasp Kramer’s star power. Saw X does not make that mistake, leading to one of the franchise’s strongest installments since the original, mostly because it gives Jigsaw center stage.

[Tobin Bell's] half-cracked grandeur, boosted by [Shawnee] Smith’s skewed stares of adoration, sends the movie into a loopy giddiness. Saw X may not be the best one to start off with, but it’s hard to imagine a better one to end with.

The first saw might have the more memorable ending, but but when it comes to being a more coherently structured film from beginning to end, Saw X has the edge.