A Modern Crime Classic

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2012)

I think just about everyone who has seen ALIEN 3 can agree, it's pretty crappy. We should all be thankful that Hollywood had the foresight to realize that it's director David Fincher managed to show considerable talent and saved it from the ultimate train wreck it's long, problematic development meant it should have been. After throwing himself under the bus to complete ALIEN 3, Fincher was given the chance to prove what he was really capable of with SE7EN. The film is a modern classic and most people will agree. I love a good serial killer story, and SE7EN is right up there at the top of the list with the best of them. Thanks to it's gripping story, talented performances, and an ending that will go down as one of the most memorable, SE7EN is an excellent movie well-deserving of the long-term attention it's gotten and the status it helped to build for Fincher. In the film, Detective William Somerset is one week from his retirement and begins training his replacement, the younger and more naïve Detective David Mills. Mills is a hotshot with an impatient attitude, recently transferred from a small town to the big city where he hopes to make a difference. Mills' first case, and Somerset's supposed final, turns into something larger than your average homicide. A new serial killer has come to light and he is using torture and murder to preach against the seven deadly sins to his victims (e.g. an obese man is forced to eat himself to death at gunpoint).
This is a dark, twisted movie. From the very beginning we open with a warped credits sequence and a glimpse into the methods of the yet-unknown serial killer to the remixed sound of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer". And it only gets more twisted from there. We never actually see the murderer (with the inconspicuous name John Doe) in action as the audience. Instead, we see the aftermath as Somerset and Mills arrive on the scene and each crime scene is more brutal than the last. John Doe is a psychopath and uses his victims to preach his message in the worst way possible. SE7EN is the most gripping serial killer/thriller since THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and even now, almost twenty years since it's release, is just as powerful as always. While there may not be any brutal violence occurring on screen, I would still recommend discretion for audience members who don't care for the darker subject matter. Despite the fact the movie was released in 1995, I'll try to remain spoiler-free when discussing the movie just in case, but the end of this movie has been parodied and paid homage countless times since. It's a strong ending and I'm glad it didn't cop out and go the usual route where the killer is stopped before his crimes can escalate and the story ends on a high note. Not here; it's a bittersweet ending where you could even go so far as to say the villain triumphs over the heroes.
Every element of this movie contributes to its strength. The cinematography from Darius Khondji is amazing. The visual style of this movie is just as prominent as any performance. The high contrast, abundance of low lighting, overcast weather and sharp instances of source lighting (I really loved the red neon cross in Doe's apartment) gives this movie an overwhelming feeling of gloom that coincides with Detective Somerset's view on life in the city. I would love to get my hands on the screenplay from Andrew Kevin Walker for this one, as it's incredibly well written and was perfectly suited for the talents of someone as visually strong as director Fincher. The cast in this movie, again inspired. The only real important characters in the film are Somerset (Morgan Freeman), Mills (Brad Pitt), and the killer John Doe (who I won't spoil here on the off chance that someone reading this has not seen the movie and somehow avoided any and all revelations about Doe). Morgan Freeman is the kind of actor where you expect a powerful performance, and he delivers just that. Somerset is a jaded detective who's spent years on the force and seen it all (until Doe came along); he's tired and he's ready to find a simpler life. I've also got to give Pitt some great credit here because SE7EN was the movie that helped me realize Pitt was more talented than I'd believed and more than just a Hollywood pretty boy (further solidified in FIGHT CLUB, another awesome Fincher film). And finally, the actor portraying John Doe is excellent. Doe is a cold, calculating killer who truly believes in what he is doing and the actor gives one of the best eerie performances. All together, this all combines to create one of the best films of the 90s and almost guaranteed to become a favorite.