Zodiac movie review - Aussieboyreviews

DOES THE ZODIAC KILLER MAKE ZODIAC AN INTERESTING DETECTIVE-MYSTERY THRILLER?

Based on true events relating to the Zodiac killer, this mystery-thriller directed by David Fincher is interesting, dark and gripping. This movie features excellent performances and is utterly entertaining.

Storyline

Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective as he uses his puzzle-solving skills when he finds himself obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer, an unidentified serial killer who taunts the authorities with cryptic messages.

Movie Images

Movie details

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny
Writer: James Vanderbilt
Release Date (Australia): 17 May 2007
Runtime: 157 minutes/2h 37m
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English

CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)

Themes (MA15+)

The film includes strong themes of murder.

Violence (MA15+)

The film features several depictions of shooting and stabbing murders that are accompanied by sprays of blood.

Coarse Language (M)

The film contains occasionally aggressive use of the words “f**k” and “s**t”.

Drug Use (M)

A man is briefly depicted snorting cocaine.

Sex (PG)

There are brief depictions of sexualised imagery.

mpaa rating

R (for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images)

Aussie boy's thoughts

David Fincher’s exceptionally-made and detailed detective film surrounding the Zodiac killer case highlights the brutal killings, crime scenes and police investigations. Therefore, to any audience interested in true crime stories and detective mysteries portrayed in an ominous tone, Zodiac is nothing less than perfect. It’s a puzzle-solving movie that older teens and adults will easily find themselves invested in.

The best and probably the most surprising thing about this movie is how the prolonged Zodiac case fits perfectly within the film’s runtime of nearly 3 hours. A lot of films based on true or just fictional stories find themselves spending a lot of time with slow dialogue and a potentially boring pace, where Zodiac is absolutely nothing like that. Instead of spending too much time focusing on one tiny element in the mystery, there’s always something happening and the tips or clues are frequently rolling in.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards are the best actors in this film. As they try to solve the case, they become increasingly more frustrated and you can feel that yourself. David Fincher’s direction as always is simply brilliant, and the film creates a very dark and ominous tone similar to 1995’s detective mystery-thriller Seven.

Especially if you are unfamiliar or don’t know much to completely nothing about this very intense cold case, this film is accurate to the true events, it’s a great way to learn about and to even just see the police dealing with the case and struggling to identify the killer. It pays a lot of attention to detail, and there’s just so much thrilling things in this movie worth talking about, but that involves spoilers and it’s best to enter this movie knowing nothing, not even have seeing the intriguing trailer.

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