Excellent Movie

Rating: 8/10 (21 September 2016)

David Fincher reveals a masterpiece of a movie in his film Seven. The movie follows the process of two detectives, Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) as they attempt to track down a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is choosing his methods and victims based off of the seven deadly sins. The film is high quality for two main reasons: its complex characters and its moral commentary.
The most intriguing character is easily John Doe, the killer. Rather than creating a stereotypical mindless killer, Fincher makes Doe a serious, soft-spoken man, whose power comes from his brain rather than his brawn. Doe is extremely logical and methodical in his approaches, as his killings require intense planning. His character poses as a striking contrast to Mills. Although he is the "good guy"-the cop, the detective, the one trying to stop a killer- Mills is not likable. Unlike Doe, he raves and constantly shows frustration, and often reverts to physical violence to try to accomplish his mission. Although the watcher probably will still root for Mills, when Doe speaks, they will be more apt to listen. Somerset serves as the voice of reason, reeling in Mills when necessary and respecting Doe's genius as he tries to catch him.
These characters, especially John Doe, perfectly display the film's social commentary on the seven deadly sins within our culture. More importantly, they raise the moral question of what is evil, and what is good. There is a clear clash between good and evil within the film, but the reason it is so successful is that it makes the audience ask themselves questions. Are evil people able to be victims? Is society harming the killer or did the killer harm society? What is a just price to pay for evil doings? Therefore, I highly recommend Seven to anyone who is not too squeamish and who enjoys a perplexing film that will leave you thinking. I enthusiastically endorse this film with an "A".