10/10

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2007)

Director David Fincher finally ends his five year hiatus with a new masterwork in his take on the Zodiac murder case. In Zodiac, Fincher still clings to his dark, thrilling roots, yet expands his horizons in presenting the majority of the film from the perspective of a newspaper room. Unlike his previous notable works, (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room) Fincher is not trying to be overly flaunting with the camera. Instead, he focuses on the details. From the opening vintage Universal and Warner Brothers logos to the pens Jake Gyllenhaal's character uses, we are completely thrown into the '60s-'70s time period that Zodiac predominantly encompasses.
Zodiac's main theme seems to be precision. The camera is always in the right place and the performances by every actor is pitch perfect, without anyone being overly showy. There are a few artistic moments where Fincher departs from subtlety and awes us, such as showing a time lapse sequence of the creation of the Transamerica Tower. It's safe to say that Zodiac is the best looking film shot with digital technology thus far . The film is shot on the same High Definition camera as Collateral and Miami Vice, and unlike those films, the look is not unsettling or distracting at all.
The film's meticulous obsession with detail also mirrors the characters and the story of the film itself. Throughout the film, we are introduced to four major characters who become obsessed with the Zodiac killer, one of whom ends up devoting all of his time to the case, neglecting his family in the process and potentially risking his life to identify the murderer. This character, Robert Graysmith, the writer of the book the film is based on, is played neurotically by Gyllenhaal. Robert Downey Jr. shows that he's still one of Hollywood's top actors in his dry, witty, self-destructive portrayal of reporter Paul Avery. Anthony Edwards plays William Armstrong, a detective partnered to Mark Ruffalo's David Toschi. Ruffalo fearlessly changed his voice and mannerisms to play Toschi, surprising many who have only seen him in romantic comedies.
One complaint about Zodiac is that the film is too long. Yes, it is long, but it isn't boring at all. Every scene is packed with so much information and detail that it isn't surprising to hear that a previous cut of the film ran a half an hour longer. Some scenes are expository and somewhat slow, but these are necessary in order for the faster, edgier scenes to shine. The film's length is necessary to introduce the vast ensemble of characters, with performances by Brian Cox, Chloe Sevigny, and John Carroll Lynch being the most memorable. What is also remarkable is the epic feel of the film that trailers failed to show. We ultimately span from the late sixties to the mid eighties, as well as an additional scene in the nineties, closing out with an contemporary epilogue over Donovan's ominous Hurdy Gurdy Man.
In Zodiac, Fincher did what so few have done. Under the cramped confines of a major studio, he ambitiously created a film both artistically satisfying and utterly entertaining.