SummaryBased on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history, Zodiac is a thriller from David Fincher, director of "Seven" and "Fight Club." As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the mur...
SummaryBased on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history, Zodiac is a thriller from David Fincher, director of "Seven" and "Fight Club." As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the mur...
Its most impressive accomplishment is to gather a bewildering labyrinth of facts and suspicions over a period of years, and make the journey through this maze frightening and suspenseful.
In Zodiac, working from a script by James Vanderbilt, Fincher has decidedly toned down his act. His straight-ahead, methodical direction isn't as flagrantly unsettling as much of his previous work, but it's more psychologically layered. In this film, for the first time, we feel for his characters when they bleed.
What this masterpiece excels at is that it doesn’t focus on the killings, or even the killer. It’s about the persuasiveness; the restless nights that are spent; the extreme determination to find something—anything—even though the hints fail them over and over.
It doesn't break ground like "Seven" or "Fight Club"; it's not a thrill ride like "Panic Room." But it's a mature, thoughtful and full-bodied movie that compensates for the demands it makes with the rewards of craftsmanship, rigor, skill and art.
The most provocative aspect of this compulsive riddle is how it resists closure. The end comes not when we have the answer, but when the movie reaches its irresolute end.
That's exactly the problem with this movie: It's not about a killer, or his victims, or the manhunt or the cops. They're all in it, of course, more or less. But it's about a writer.
This is more a crime mystery movie than a horror/thriller I feel as although there are some violent scenes, the majority of the movie focuses on the police and the press. The movie is a little slow paced for those looking for a horror/thriller perhaps but its certainly interesting to follow the investigation and see how the media reached out to the killer and tried to understand him at first. Investigations seem pretty fruitless at first but then people come forward claiming to be the killer, although after discussions its clear none of them are the killer as they lack the detailed knowledge the killer would have known, then they come across someone who flatly denies their the killer yet who seems very much like 'their guy' but how can they prove this?. Its quite a frustrating watch as you can probably imagine but its quite intriguing as well and I thought the characters were interesting enough to keep me wanting to continue to watch it, that and the media interaction angle of the story.
I noticed that in some scenes, the musical score added to the suspense. The soundtrack is certainly 'of its time' and so for a change I thought it was worth nothing that, I think this movie is helped by good use of some songs/background incidental music.
Its quite frustrating to see how people such as Paul Avery baby Robert Graysmith as he shows real curiosity and a drive to solve the mystery as to the identity of the killer. I suppose in a sense its a typical story of the underdog ignoring the naysayers and going with his instincts, pursuing his fascination and interest, in the search for the truth and all of that, though he's rather naive and its a wonder his wife stuck around for as long as she did, given the danger that he put himself and his family in by going public with his investigations. Equally, at times its surprising that those in the PD co-operated with him 'off the book' years later, as much as they did.
This is quite an interesing movie, I felt it was quite suspenseful towards the end, the story was interesting, it left me guessing and the characters were well portrayed.
Zodiac is based on actual events. It's a movie about a handful of detectives trying to track down a serial killer who goes by The Zodiac Killer. Suspense is provided at times and the movie is acted well. My problem with it? It's boring. I'm sorry but it just is and the fact that it's over two and a half hours doesn't help. It's not eventful eenough so it feels stretched out, like it moves at a snail's pace. It's a good movie in most regards, though, which is why I give it a 6/10, but it's just pretty boring.