Se7en is a dark, depressing, powerful and a clever movie

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2010)

I didn't know what I was getting into when I sat down to watch this movie along with my friend. He had brought the DVD to my home and as he is a hardcore fan of Brad Pitt, he has bought almost every major hit movie of Pitt and since I am also a fan, we both watched it together. I thought it would be a cool movie like other Pitt films, but it was so dark and has so much more than other films of this genre.
Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is on his last week in duty and he's all set to retire when the case of a strange death is made his responsibility to solve. Though all others think that it was a psycho who was responsible for the death, Somerset has his doubts, he thinks that the murderer is simply a clever and disgusted man who is trying to rid the society of evil. In many ways, his and the killer's view about the degrading society is alike, except that Somerset wants to leave the city for the country life and the killer is taking action. Enter Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt), the young and dynamic sleuth who has a positive view on the society, and he is made the partner to Somerset. Then onwards, there are more disgusting, shocking deaths with the seven sins as its identity. The seven sins are - Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Pride, Lust and Wrath. While Mills believes the killer is an insane person, Somerset tells him that he is a very clever, normal man and nowhere near insane with his precise killings and no clues to be found anywhere. The killer is a John Doe (played brilliantly in a cameo role by Kevin Spacey) and it takes every last bit of Somerset's and Mills willpower to not get carried away by the magnitude of the brutal, methodical killings. Tracy Mills (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the wife of Mills and they are very much in love. Will the detectives be able to stop this killer who claims himself to be a servant of God and who will bear the brunt of this maniac's insanity eventually - The society or the detectives?
David Fincher is at the helm of this amazing film. This could have been a routine cop-killer story, but he does not even step into the tired and old Hollywood clichés and is not afraid to make this a dark, unique and depressing tale about the human life. Also, he does so in a very powerful and clever way. I was racking my brains to figure out who the killer was, as in films like these, they would show the killer beforehand. And in the end, it was true; the killer had come in contact with the detectives. Morgan plays the old and more worldly wise man, rather in contrast to Pitt's character who is a hot-head at times. No matter how insanely talented Pitt is, the press always seems to give more importance to his charming looks and relationship with Jolie (back then, it was Jennifer Aniston). Tracy is genuinely portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow. She played a major part in bringing Mills and Somerset together. I loved her scene where she introduces each other. Though she didn't get enough screen-time to have satisfied me, I got over it as the ending was so emotional and I cried (I am a straight guy and I am not ashamed to say that I cried) when Pitt finds out what was in the box. I could see that one coming a couple of minutes before the movie got to it, but it doesn't mean I didn't get emotional at that point. I was hoping against hope that it wasn't what I was thinking. But, it was and I cried. Don't see this if you can't handle brutal death scenes (although they show only the aftermath of the death, it is still nauseous) and are easily bored when things are not non-stop action. But, the screenplay is one of the best I have seen in this genre. Also, the colouring layout of the movie is dark, everything is subdued and always raining, except save for the climax which is bright and hot, which served as an irony of sorts and it was wonderful. When John Doe tells Mills to become wrath, I got chills running up and down my spine.
I still consider Fight Club to be the best Pitt-Fincher movie, but I can't ignore this brilliantly made movie. Though not everyone will like this film (case-in-point, my Brad Pitt fan friend), because of the dark overtone, I loved it as it isn't flashy and predictable like most movies of this genre, and actually was very brilliant.
10/10