Genius in concept and execution

Rating: 8/10 (15 April 2015)

Se7en's concept is inherently interesting: a serial killer who bases his murders off of the seven deadly sins is notable enough (and certainly opens the door for social commentary), while the characters of Somerset and Mills are both clashing and easy to relate with in their respective passion and persnickety meticulousness. There was no doubt that following the two detectives hunt down John Does was going to be a treat. But what Fincher does so beautifully here is surpass the intrigue caused by the film's writing with pacing that escalates the film's events from noteworthy on a base level to thrilling.
It would have been so predictable and placid to simply follow each of the seven murders like a trail of breadcrumbs, allowing the final murder scene to be the murderer's reveal and the film's final confrontation, but instead we're introduced to John Doe as a character about halfway through the film. While Spacey himself doesn't get screen-time until he turns himself in in the third act, Doe is characterized through his ruthless pragmatism in immediately shooting at the detectives when they discover his apartment (rather than try to convince them that he's not their guy), which is later contrasted by his decision to spare Mills' life: Doe was hell-bent on carrying through with his plan, and the senseless killing of an officer would only cloud the message his murders were supposed to send. Not to mention the fact that Mills was destined to be his Wrath.
On that point of Mills as Wrath, there is a plot hole to discuss, or at the very least an incongruity. The fact that every other murder victim seemed to be the result of over a year of planning (especially Sloth, who was literally entrapped for over a year) does conflict with the decision to make Mills Wrath after only knowing that he exists for a few days. Doe is endlessly scheming and insanely careful (sanding off his own fingerprints in the off chance that he's discovered), so why would he put his plan into motion without hammering down a surefire candidate for his Wrath? While Doe could have simply decided that he was going to make whichever detective came after him his Wrath, it sort of undermines the perfect casting of the passionate and unfocused Mills as the man who would allow Doe to get the better of him. Looking back at the scene where Mills kicks down Doe's door, would just any detective have the gall to ignore the law so brusquely?
Perhaps Somerset was supposed to be the unique one, a bastion of purity and law-abiding good-nature (whose positivity has been hammered down over time by the city's unwavering cruelty into apathy) in the sea of brutish and violent officers like Mills and John C. McGinley's California. If this was intended to be Doe's true message, a commentary on the state of the police force, it seems a little weak.
Granted, this is all based off of what could have just been a simple oversight in order to deliver the most interesting twist ending possible, but it muddles the impact of the film's ending after moving past the surprise of it. In fact, this all really only came to me hours after the film was over and I had been entranced by the atypical nature of this thriller, so I see no reason to deduct serious marks because of it. Se7en is one of the best told murder mysteries out there, and worth a watch to fans of Fincher and detective thrillers alike.