Zodiac (2007)

 

Genre: Thriller/ Mystery

Time: 2h 40mins

Director: David Fincher

Quick Summary: Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

I was screaming during the entire basement scene.

You know it's strange seeing how young Jake Gyllenhaal is in this. He plays a cartoonist who becomes obsessed with the case of the Zodiac killer and mostly we follow his point of view, aside from a few shifts every now and again through various other characters. These other ones flick throughout the film, so it is difficult to keep track of them at the start. Jake, I adored this, he steals the whole thing hands down. So much that I think I would have preferred if we just followed through his eyes, but I understand we might not have gotten the information we did at certain times, or at all, because of the point of view shifts. Robert Downey, Jr. does characteristically terrific work as a reporter who (in usual Robert character-type fashion) has a flair for getting his own fame through the case. Mark Ruffalo I also enjoyed as much as Robert, I have no complaints about him, but I think the character was a little dull. However, because of the various other characters I haven't mentioned, it would have been difficult to keep everyone developed without taking the focus of the actual plot of the film. 

I do like how this film looks, it really created how creepy the whole case was. Grimy browns and greys, which is usual for David Fincher, really helped with this. A lot of the scenes are dark and dimly lit too, which honestly made ones like the basement scene horrifying to me. 

You do need an attention span for this sadly as a lot of the scenes are drawn-out, seemingly nothing, dialogue-driven moments. Long scenes are given to analyzing handwriting samples, recreating the scenes of murders, and digging through newspaper clippings and files. They really aren't anything exciting. But they are important, each thing gives something to the plot. This film follows the investigation side of things, rather than the actual murderer. Sure, we do see the more notorious kills, which are also pretty horrifying and sort of brutal to watch, but again, this is not the focus of the film. 

For how long this film is, it sure does fly by. It's so captivating and engaging. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a moment I was bored. This is because of how perfect the pacing is, it never lets up. Just keep going, more and more information is fed into you, and bonus points for it not being all thrown at once in one big heap. It keeps it at a nice medium so you are not bombarded with stuff. 

The ending can be taken as anti-climatic, but I think something that needs to be considered with this film is that the original killer was never found and this only gives a possibility of who it could have been through the facts that were shown throughout this as well as in real life. I wouldn't say it's satisfying at all, I do agree it's anti-climatic, but that's what really happened. 

This is a long film so I can't recommend it to everyone, but this is such a well-made film I can urge people to give it a go. You never know, you might actually like it. 

10/10

" I am not the Zodiac. And if I was, I certainly wouldn't tell you."

"Robert Graysmith: I've been thinking...

Paul Avery: Oh God, save us all."

"Robert Graysmith: Not many people have basements in California.

Bob Vaughn: I do."

"Inspector William Armstrong: Avery's on two.

Dave Toschi: Tell him to screw.

Inspector William Armstrong: You want me to communicate that verbatim or can I spice it up a little?"