Before I start this review let me just say that I am a huge fan of the works of director David Fincher, Seven and Panic Room are superb pieces of entertainment. I even enjoyed The Game and parts of Alien 3! So I went into this film with very high expectations due to the serial killer masterpiece which is the afore-mentioned Seven. That film has stayed with me for a very long time. So, to Zodiac. Again, I am a big fan of the three actors involved with this film, whose names you can see on the poster to the left of these words. The performances were excellent, and Fincher shows once again that he is a master with a camera, the opening shot of the film is simply stunning. There was some tension in certain scenes, particularly the build up and what Zodiac says to the mother of the baby before we see her on the side of the road. But my biggest problem with this film, and I'm going to get a lot of flack off some of my friends for writing this. But a lot of the time, I found it, well...dull! Yes, dull. A David Fincher film! A man who can make a camera swoop around a kitchen entertaining. It just seemed to plod along with different excellent actors looking at many different pieces of paper. The Zodiac scenes, the attacks, had some real cinematic value. But because we know they never caught the killer when we go into the cinema, it all seems a little anti-climactic. Though the coda at the end of the film would seem to indicate that some resolution was brought to the case. It was a bold choice to work from the viewpoint of the investigators, and the comic writer, but it didn't have enough momentum to sustain a two and a half hour running time. Not in my opinion. I wil be going back to Seven many times in the future, but probably not Zodiac. Sometimes a true story isn't enough to make a gripping film, you also need something inherently cinematic to work alongside that. Yes, All The President's Men has a similar set up, but the tension invoked in that film far outweighs what we have here.
So, 3 out of 5 for the quality of all those involved, but definitely not the new 7!
2 comments:
Dull? DULL?! I am disappointed. Consider this getting flack.
Good evening, Mr Jenkins. It's entirely possible that you know who I am (we spoke very recently), but if you do work it out, I would appreciate it if you could maintain my 'anonimity'...
Anyway, I am disappointed you thought it was dull! Granted, it's not quite in the same league as 'Fight Club' or 'Se7en' (but then, what could be?). What it is is a fascinating insight into the tedium of a crime investigation. We've become so used to cinematic investigations flying into the 'solved' folder within two-and-a-half-hours that we forget that, normally, they take time. Lots of time. And resources. Remember also that this was set in the days before the internet; before computers even. (People of our age can remember such times.) This was a time when people actually had to talk to each other and find things out, instead of relying on Google. 24 this ain't.
Lay off Fincher. He's done a great job in actually conveying the frustrations felt by all parties, from the Cops to the cartoon writer to their families. It's hard work. But they were all driven to find Zodiac. That, I think, is the beauty of the film. There was actually some real substance to go with Fincher's undoubted style. It may not be a 5/5, but it certainly is more than a 3. Shall we say 4?
Speak soon,
Indiana.
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