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Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.
Jake Gyllenhaal: Robert Graysmith
Mark Ruffalo: Inspector David Toschi
Robert Downey Jr.: Paul Avery
Zodiac is a layered, impressive thriller covering the true events of the serial killer Zodiac, brought to screen by esteemed David Fincher.
Ultimately this is a thinking man's film, and an in-depth study about obsession. Not merely concerned with the mystery killer's impulsive desires but also one regarding the men whom are obsessed by him, by revealing his identity and solving the puzzle which in turn haunts their lives.
The film does a pivotal job of asking the question; At what stage does intrigue evolve into obsession?
Although it doesn't appear to be as flashy and as stylised as Fincher's previous films, the clever use of CGI and editing techniques are masterfully crisp, clean and technically immaculate. There is one mesmerizing slick and styled scene where we follow a cab through the streets of San Francisco, pre-murder, from the birds-eye view.
It's a wonderful, original story and perspective which sets Zodiac in a firm spot for a number of reasons; It's in a way a historical lesson, and then in another a masterful example of casting and superb acting, while also resulting in a cleverly realized thriller.
''Before I kill you, I'm going to throw your baby out the window.''
The three leads Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal are all exceptional churning out perfect performances, adding to the already compelling story that spans over 30 years of murky mystery.
You really feel the period of the time and one must love how it transitions, as the clothes and fashions alter as the film and plot progresses.
It’s a truism that serial killers are media creations, but Zodiac whom may have taken his name and symbol from a watch advert, was perhaps inspired by the 1932 movie The Most Dangerous Game, and wanted a lawyer who had guest-starred in a Star Trek episode to represent him.
Zodiac remains a phantom of the tube and newsprint. Murderers who are caught get shown up as pathetic human beings rather than Lecter-like masterminds, but Zodiac was either clever or lucky, and remains a phantom. Fincher offers us his creepy, misspelled letters in voice-over and brings a hooded form on for one of the killings, but the film’s most unsettling moments come when the possible Zodiacs are around: convicted paedophile Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch) or repertory cinema programmer Bob Vaughn (Charles Fleischer). As in Se7en and Fight Club, Fincher boasts an unparalleled ability to present ostensibly friendly, deeply twisted people credibly — one of Zodiac’s few melodramatic moments, as Vaughn spooks Graysmith so much he flees the suspect’s house, works entirely because of the unnerving performances.
While this isn’t as straightforward as Panic Room, Fincher’s previous film, it lacks the highly wrought style of Seven and Fight Club. Wonderfully acted as it may result in being, there’s still a sense that Fincher(who is evidently as obsessed over Zodiac similarly to James Cameron regarding Titanic)is working perhaps a notch or two below his capacity entails.
Audiences will need patience with the film’s layered approach, which follows its main characters via poring over details, and be prepared to put up with a couple of rote family arguments and wearily divulging conversations, but this gripping character study becomes increasingly, agonisingly suspenseful as it gets closer to a conclusion concerning a mystery perhaps only the imagination can rectify.
''I... I Need to know who he is. I... I need to stand there, I need to look him in the eye and I need to know that it's him.''
9/10
