Not One of Fincher's BEST, But Still Very Good

Rating: 9/10 (25 June 2015)

I'm not exactly sure what to think of David Fincher as a director. Two of his movies I thought had poor endings the first time I saw them: Fight Club and The Social Network. On second viewing I loved Fight Club, kind of giving the ending a pass, and liked Social Network the second time I gave it a chance, still unsure of the ending. Now after viewing these movies a number of times I understand the significance of these endings, but do not believe they are great resolutions. For Gone Girl, the ending left me amazed and creeped out how the Rosamund Pike character won, but it doesn't make perfect sense that she got away with murder.
I think some of the writing towards the beginning of the film is a little strange; I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there's something "off" about it. This isn't really important in the grand scheme of things, but you know how Amy's life is improved upon through her parents' book series "Amazing Amy?" 1) Why would a book series about such a perfect girl be so popular, and 2) What kind of parents do that? As Nick states: a**holes do that.
The dialogue before they REALLY get into the investigation of Amy's disappearance is highly based in riddles, which are included when Nick and Amy flirt in flashback sequences. I mean I get that both of them are writers, but do they really need to be that smart all the time when they talk?
Let me stray from negative criticism to say the sequence which reveals the twist of the movie is among the great sequences which Fincher has directed. In this "montage" of sorts, the music is on- point, Amy's internal thoughts revealed in voice-over is haunting as hell, and the editing is simply perfect.
The strongest aspect of this film is the performance Rosamund Pike gives by playing Amy - one of the most maniacal psychopaths I have ever seen on film. I am so glad she got an Oscar nomination for this film since she made me hate Amy so much - it's impressive when actors can get you to feel extremity of any emotion towards their character.
Flaws in her not getting caught? There were cameras all over the house of the Neil Patrick Harris character that he said were recording all the time. I get that Amy fakes getting raped for the camera cleverly by biting the man's tongue and pulling down his pants so it looks like he is cleaning up after that as he exits. And I get that she poses for a camera like she was tormented. But what about the rest of the cameras in the house? Are we to believe they are only covering the perimeter of the house? Also, I forget why they can't get Nick to wear a wire around Amy - she prevents it once by talking in the shower, but is she going to be on guard the rest of her life? Highly unlikely.
The fact that they make it very hard to determine whether Nick murdered Amy or not before the huge twist in the film is brilliant, making the end of act 1 and most of act 2 very strong, though the film has a weak opening and a flawed - but extremely creepy - ending. The mystery aspect and Pike's performance make this a very strong film, but it could have been improved if some content was cut and the film was more of a character study.