Absorbing crime drama, with moderately disappointing climax.

Rating: 7/10 (19 August 2001)

**** = A masterpiece to be recorded in the books and never forgotten
***1/2 = A classic in time; simply a must see
*** = A solid, worth-while, very entertaining piece
**1/2 = A good movie, but there are some uneven elements or noticeable flaws
** = May still be considered good in areas, but this work has either serious issues or is restrained by inevitable elements deemed inescapable (e.g., genre)
*1/2 = Mostly a heap of nothing sparked by mildly worthwhile moments
BOMB = Not of a viewable quality

Se7en = ***

Rated "R" (for grisly, gory images, and for language)

"SE7EN" combines a sophisticated, crime plot, with a fun, heavy-metal type quality lingering in the background. The atmosphere is grim and unsettling: perfect and delicious. The first 3/4 of it are absorbing and gripping; an above-average thriller. As the film moves onward, the first few of the climactic sequences ease up, and the killer is revealed. But that's just the beginning...
Personally, I hated the killer. I thought he/she was annoying and typical. Also, I think that screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker made a mostly unnoticeable but wounding mistake: the killer is "out in the open" for too long. I think that his/her mysticism, which kept tension for the first hour and a half, was the coolest thing going, but it was killed in the end, like a vampire burning in the open sun.
But don't let this stop you from picking it up with a box of pizza on the way home from work - you'll like it almost definately.