bad timing (editing problems?)

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2001)

I saw this movie for the third time now and I hoped that I might enjoy it a little bit more than the first two times. But, though I really did my best to like it, I was disappointed again.
But then, there are moments when I thought: hey, this could be very good, but it just doesn't work, it just doesn't touch me at all, so what is wrong with it? Maybe I just don't see it the way it is intended?

After all this is I think the truth about this movie: like it is, you can't see it the way it is intended.
I just can't believe that someone who directed such a solid and compact movie as Se7en, could make such a horrible mistake: there is no story, there is no center, the whole thing just falls apart in pieces when you watch it.

I think this is due to some wrong editing (and maybe this was caused by a not thoroughly thought trough scenario, but that I can't say). There were several moments when I thought: hey, why is this happening now, it should happen minutes ago and moments when I thought: why is this happening right now, it just spoils the enjoyment of suspense, they should show this way later in the movie. And there were scenes I thought: my God, why didn't they cut this piece away, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Like the 'running scenes' closing to the end: you just can't make head nor tale of it, they're just running around, while you never get what they're plan actually is and how they would like to make it work. You just wait till they're done and get on with the 'story'. This is just annoying as it is. But I think what the director meant was to create this feeling of being lost in endless tunnels without ever really seeing it from a bird's view, to run and hope you will get somewhere, with only the help of your fear and the intuition it brings with it. Done well, this could prove to be some really exciting and nerve-cracking sequence, a real build-up to the grand finale.

There were also moments when I thought the music was kicking in way too early or too late, making it some kind of a mere commentary instead of accompanying and enforcing the action (like it is so well done in Star Wars or The X-files just to name a few).
I think a better editing could make this movie a whole new experience, getting things at the right moments and making it one whole again, like it proved possible with "Blade Runner". I for one wouldn't mind to see it one more time, but only the way it was probably intended, so I hope they will give the director a chance to remake this movie and to prove that it is a good one after all.