One of the best thrillers of all time with a shocking ending that will smack you in the face.

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2015)

Se7en (also known as Seven) is one of the best thrillers that everyone still talks about. It's certainly not a clichéd movie nor does it use a recycled plot. It is well written with an original plot and the cast is brilliant. The entire movie is suspenseful and dark with its shock value added to keep audiences engaged. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley and Kevin Spacey are excellent.
Set in an unnamed city which rains for most of the movie, Se7en is about a serial killer who's M.O. is based around the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride and Lust. Morgan Freeman is Detective Lieutenant William Somerset, a worn out homicide detective on the verge on retirement. Somerset is partnered with newly transferred Detective David Mills played by Brad Pitt, an idealistic yet brash and hot headed police detective. Somerset and Mills are tasked with the investigation as the gruesome murders pile up one at a time. The serial killer who calls himself John Doe, played by Kevin Spacey, leaves inconspicuous clues on the next victim as well as his identity. Meanwhile David Mills' wife Tracy is unhappy with the move to the city and confides to Somerset that she is miserable here. Somerset and Mills must race against time to find John Doe as well as any further victims.
Brad Pitt shows that he is a versatile actor and not just a pretty face as the brash Detective David Mills. Morgan Freeman is tailor made as the world weary Detective Lieutenant William Somerset who wants to solve this case before his retirement. Gwyneth Paltrow makes her mark as David's wife Tracy, who reluctantly agrees to transfer to the city with her husband. Kevin Spacey is chilling as the calculating John Doe. Kevin Spacey's John Doe earns a spot as one of the best villains of all time. R. Lee Ermey, famous for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, does a good job as the unnamed Police Captain. John C. McGinley also does a good job as the hard charging SWAT Team Leader California.
Se7en is notable for putting director David Fincher on the map, making critics and audiences stand up and take notice that he is a force to be reckoned with. After his disastrous debut with Alien 3 (1992), David Fincher does a brilliant job with Se7en. David Fincher would later go on and direct further movies that would cement his reputation as a brilliant director with movies such as The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and Gone Girl (2014). David Fincher, along with writer Andrew Kevin Walker and cinematographer Darius Khondji should be commended on a job well done for bringing to the screen a dark, gratuitous and grim thriller. The entire movie does not let up for one moment, and the shocking ending just smacks you in the face. The best part is that the ending is unexpected and NOBODY could tell you that they saw it coming. If anyone says that they could see it coming, they are full of it. The shocking ending in Se7en is one that will stay with you for days, and it certainly did when I first saw it many years ago.
Although Se7en is a grisly and gory movie that is certainly not for the faint hearted, it rightfully earns its spot as one of the best thrillers of all time, and definitely one of the most popular movies of the 1990's.
10/10.