ker-pow!

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2002)

Starting to watch Fight Club, my first thought's that basically it's a re-run of The Game, Fincher's previous (and arguably under-rated) film. The two have a lot in common, which is no bad thing. Skillful direction, an original but preposterous plot played with a straight face (but without undue pomposity or preachiness) and given time to build to climax, and an idea (that we have to lose what we have in order to appreciate it) that is not, in all honesty, seriously explored in either film, but which sustains entertainment that pitches in well above the brain-dead level in both cases. Of the pair, Fight Club is funnier, but more or less, the formula's the same.
Then, three quarters of the way through, Fight Club pulls a trick. It's cleverly done (once the shock hits you, you suddenly spot the clues) but unfortunately it sweeps the ground from beneath this movie's feet. After the coup, all you are left with are boring sub-Matrix style special effect violence and bogus existential meditations. The film was never really heading to a classical straight ending, but, you might think, surely they could do something better than this.
And then, at the every end, the wreckage is raised. Two great gags in the last thirty seconds (though how one passed the censor I do not know) turn the joke firmly back on us. The timing and execution of both are perfect; though the whole film is not, you'll see few others as well-directed, fun and fresh.