Zodiac

David Fincher is the sort of director whose work is easily recognizable among the plethora of movies constantly streaming in and out of theaters and households of the world. He has a style that, though often mimicked, is never duplicated. His is a flashy vein of filmmaking, though not obnoxious or overdone, for Fincher knows just the right way to use editing and CGI to smoothly move a film along.
While his movies are easy to set apart from those of other filmmakers, they are also easy to set apart from each other. This is why we do not grow bored with his work; he is simultaneously relying on his established methods and trying something new with each film.
“Fight Club” is arguably his most popular film, though it is known more for its leading actors than its director, and is a must see for male teens and beyond as it embodies the ultimate badass mentality that all the “tough guys” pretend to live by. This movie is above all else a social commentary and one of the finest examples of postmodern filmmaking you are likely to find.
“Panic Room” was Fincher’s last film, telling the story of a mother and daughter confined to a small room as thieves attempt to rob their new home. It was a decent though less revered effort than “Fight Club,” most memorable for the dark and thrilling style injection courtesy of Fincher. Before either of those was “The Game,” a Michael Douglas vehicle about a man caught up in a deadly game of life or death.
“Zodiac,” the latest offering from this director, is most similar to the movie that made Fincher a name to remember. “Se7en” tells the story of a murder who kills according to the seven deadly sins. “Zodiac” tells the true story of the bay area serial killer who claimed the lives of numerous victims, sent cryptic letters to newspaper proudly announcing himself as the murderer, and taunted the unsuccessful police efforts to apprehend him.
In both movies the killings are especially disturbing due in large part to Fincher’s refusal to pull his punches while staging the murders and aftermath. As similar as they may first appear, “Zodiac” is not a retread of “Se7en” and it does not feel like every other police vs. murderer movie. We never see more of The Zodiac than the victims, or hear more from him than the people who receive his chilling letters.
In its nearly three hour running time, the film tells a story spanning upwards of ten years. Fincher keeps it moving very quickly with excellent editing, giving us the straight facts without losing focus. The performances of the extensive cast are top notch, especially that of Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery, a journalist, and one of the only people “fortunate” enough to receive a personal letter from The Zodiac.
While there are many telltale marks of a David Fincher film, “Zodiac” is more restrained than his previous works and the movie benefits from this greatly. It is stylistic but in a subtle way, the greatest achievement of the director is the suspense and terror he creates even while moving forward weeks and months at a time.
To be perfectly honest The Zodiac killer is, in this writer’s opinion, one of the scariest things to which anyone can give thought. As a younger child I watched an “Unsolved Mysteries” program on television, with some pretentious cousins, and attempting to sound knowledgeable I proclaimed that Jack the Ripper was surely to be the number one unsolved mystery and to my shame he ranked only at number 3. Number two was D.B. Cooper, and the number one honor went to The Zodiac Killer.
This was the first time I had ever heard of this case, and being all of ten years old, I was scared out of my mind. In the eight years since I first heard of this horrific killer I have put to rest my fears that he might, at any random minute, spring out of my closet, from behind my button up shirts, to make me the first victim in his new killing spree.
As the masked figure, in the film that is, approached two young lovers at a secluded lake, seen for the first time in his infamous black mask, all those childhood fears came surging back. I found myself trying to do some sums to decide whether he could still be alive and possibly be the elderly man sitting two rows ahead of me!
In most movies the villain is caught and good prevails, we may be shook up but we know that they cannot possibly still be at large. We are denied that comfort here, for he remains an unsolved mystery.
This all seems very superfluous, but it just goes to show how excellently Fincher has translated this story to screen. He doesn’t need cheep thrills or extensive artistic license; the story is frightening enough as it is.

A-

(I am aware that I am grading everything very highly these days but they are all worthy of these grades, I merely never have time to watch/review bad movies!)