Seven

Rating:
Summary: A Must-see Thriller!
Review: One of Morgan Freeman's best roles. The acting by everyone was superb. The tension builds and just when you think it's over, there's a twist. The ending has to be seen to be believed.

Rating:
Summary: Unambitious, under-acted, under-written and unintriguing
Review: First off, the good: This movie set a cinematographic standard for urban gothic-thrillers. The film presents its metropolis as a grity Daedalian labrynth in which around each dark corner some human vice is manifesting itself in macabre excess. It is grity, claustrophobic, and dark. Lights pulsate a sickly yellow, tight focus keeps the dark a mystery and the constant darkness implies a godless world were hedonistic lifestyles lead to extremes of degradation. Humanity is slitting its wrists. The movie's production design and cinematography are interesting, intimidating and perfect for the theme.

Now, the bad: That is all Se7en is! Se7en's best points are its darkness, its credits and the clever use of "7" in place of "v"! All other elements of the movie fall under "the bad"; The plot, the characters, the atempts at tenstion, the dialogue and the direction.
The Plot: A clearly extremely deranged man is going around killing people in graphic parodies of The Seven Deadly Sins. The end! That's it! The police investigation into his murders is superficial and reveals no methods the police might use to identify the killer. Furthermore the several instances where Morgan Freeman suggests exploring literary sources for
clues as to what the murderer's goals might be or who he will kill next never reveal any new information to the viewer, and they seem not to convey information to the characters either. The only "revelation"(excuse the Biblicality of this wording) made by the detectives is that the killer is killing in ways relating to the Seven Deadly Sins, and we can understand that from the title!
The plot of the police investigation merely serves as a frame story to reveal each gruesome set peice of the murders. Admit it to yourself, all the time when the cops were pointlesly delineating upon how to find the killer- you were begging to be shown the next murder. The enjoyment of this movie comes from the viewers inherint interst in thr perverse fetisism of torture. We want to skip over the cops and look more at the murders. They intrigue us, the story does not.

*spoiler* We end up routing for the murderer, in whose capture the movie even concedes the superflous nature of the plot, having him turn himself over.*spoiler ended*

Somewhat interesting is the identity of the actor who plays the killer, even though everyone knows who it is, I wont reveal it. It the concealment of his identity is a nice, campy throwback to gimmick movies(which this is essentially) and monster picks( like Frankenstein).

The characters: Morgan Freeman is the jaded veteran cop and Brad Pitt is the hotshot newby. The end! Interstingly enough not only are these the characters in EVERY other psychological thriller, but it is also the character Morgan Freeman plays in EVERY other psychological thriller. Their characterization is summed up in one seen where Brad Pitt decides to drink Beer and Morgan Freman decides to drink wine. Genius!
Tension: Fast forward to the last 3 minutes of the film and wait for your heartrate to raise about 1/10 past its normal rate. The end situation of the movie provides some tension, but no mystery as to what the outcome will be due to the two-dimensionality of the characters. One other scene which could be suspensful, a chase, is left predictable and uninspiring due to the almost cartoonish way in which it was shot.
Dialogue: Because the characters and plot are secondary to the gruesome props of the murders all dialogue is stunted and cliched.
Direction: Other than the depiciton of the murders the direction is loose and meandering. David Fincher knew as we did that the plot was just to provide a frame story to exhibit the murders in and thus guides as adequately enough, but in a very straight and unabitious way, though the poor dialogue and dismal atempts at characterization.

Conclusion: The film is enjoyable, yes. It is enjoyable in a voyeuristic way. We feel sick pleasure in such extreme representations of cruelty( this is the reason we all know what Chinese water torture is). The film is nothing else though, and does not push the genre in any way. The characters are two-dimensional and the plot paper thin. See it qith friends for fun, but expect nothing as interesting as The Silence of The Lambs. It is gruesome for the sake of showing us gruesomeness.

Rating:
Summary: Great premise but...
Review: When I first heard about this movie and its premise, back in '95, I nodded my head and figured it was a great idea. Then, some years later my father-in-law sent the vhs to my wife and me. SEVEN started out promising enough: the heavy atmosphere of a generic urban blight region, the deliberately paced filming, etc. You're set up for a terribly complex, suspenseful thriller. But it never fulfilled that promise. The movie strives for the psychological depth of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or IN COLD BLOOD but never reaches it. I mean, the killer is using the Seven Deadly Sins as his model for the murders, so you think maybe he or she is a misguided religious nut? Duh. I dunno. Has it ever been done before?

And once you see who portrays the killer (although other reviewers have "given it away"), I think you'll kind of grimace and say, "Jeez, he was always playing the weird bad guy back in those days." And, to me, his performance is kind of a throw-away job. He almost seems to not want to be in the picture.

Freeman and Pitt give good performances, however, Although the chemistry between them seemed strained (unlike the wonderful Glover and Gibson pairing in the LETHAL WEAPON films), the combination is effective, overall. I enjoyed watching them. The cinematography was engaging enough, and the direction elicited a few good scares. I guess I was expecting a really good thriller mystery--at least I was supposed to, given all the hooplah, Instead, I got a fairly-decent though brutal film. See it before you decide to buy it, or before your father-in-law sends you a copy.

Rating:
Summary: A Highly-Charged Thriller
Review: Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman star in this diabolical tale about a serial killer who kills by the seven deadly sins. Freeman stars as detective William Somerset, a thirty-four year veteran of the homicide department who is only one week away from retirement. Pitt stars as detective David Mills, a brash young detective who will eventually become Somerset's replacement. As the killing spree begins, Mills and Somerset are forced to put their philosophical differences aside and try to find the killer before the body count becomes too high.

This is one of the most thrilling, yet complex, movies I've seen. Freeman and Pitt give excellent performances throughout the film, as do Gwyneth Paltrow as Mills' wife, and Kevin Spacey as the murderer, "John Doe". The complexity of the film made it difficult to follow at some points, though, and I found myself really having to concentrate to keep up with the plot twists.

I enjoyed the way the producers of the film developed the character of "John Doe". From the grisly murders to the portrayal of a media reported paid by the police themselves, Kevin Spacey brought this character to life in an attention-grabbing style. Freeman's no nonsense, straight ahead approach is the perfect counter to Pitt's somewhat charge ahead and sometimes carefree demeanor.

I really enjoyed this film. The plot was excellent and the actors are first-rate. The only qualm I have is how hard I had to concentrate to follow the flow of the movie, but overall, I would highly recommend this movie to suspense and action fans. It is definitely worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: see it
Review: seven is one of those movies that gets under ur skin and is gut wrenching it is clever and it provides a few jumps here and there. there is no way u can leave this movie not feeling at least a little disturbed.this is a great phsychological thriller

Rating:
Summary: BAM
Review: Seven is the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. I was in a state of shock when I walked out of the theater. After the shock wore off, I was depressed. Eventually I said to myself, "That was an awesome flick!" However, I always warn people before I recommend it. I tell them they won't walk out of that theater feeling good. And it might be a quiet ride home in the car. Kudos to the director for going with a nontraditional ending. I plan on wathcing Seven again, tomorrow night (on DVD). I've upped my prozac dosage in anticipation.

Rating:
Summary: Se7en
Review: David Fincher's suspenseful and gritty thriller grips you, leaving you speechless and pondering once the end credits have finished rolling, even while watching the supplements. With its dark and morbid atmosphere and the uncompromising down-beat ending it will leave you thinking about what just sped by you. Harsh and real, "Se7en" is a homicide thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat for its entire running length, and it will not fail to impress its disturbing mood upon you, sending shivers and chills down your spine.

Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play as a pair of homicide detectives on a quest to solve a mysterious series of murders. Lt. Somerset (Freeman) is a burnt-out veteran cop on the brink of his retirement when he is teamed up with his replacement, an ambitious and fervent Brad Pitt as Detective David Mills. Two worlds collide as they struggle to accept each other even as a serial killer haunts the streets of this unnamed city, taking upon himself the burden of the Hand of God. He commits various creative punishments on people he feels exemplify the nature of the seven deadly sins. It takes all of the detectives' experience and effort to track the bloody trail of John Doe (Kevin Spacey), who in turn enjoys toying with the cops, planting clues as part of his deadly vision.

Fincher's world is dark, gray and foreboding through most of the movie and destroys any hope you might have for this urban civilization. Even the opening credits are murky, jerky, near-subliminally interspersed with disturbing crime-scene photos. Drenching rain is falling from depressingly cloudy gray skies for most of the movie, underscoring the unhealthy and fatalistic nature of this picture. "Se7en's" claustrophobic urban world rustles with cockroaches, and is filled with piles of rotten junk to the point that you can almost smell the putrid air. When the scenes begin to brighten and we finally move into broad daylight, it is only for the most gripping climax suspense cinema has seen in a long time, in a counterpoint revealing the abominable abyss of the dark and masochistic soul of the killer.

Rating:
Summary: And Your Point Is?
Review: Normally I either dismiss horror movies as juvenile thrills or ignore them as social metaphors wrapped in a package I simply don't care for. In general, I avoid horror pictures. Se7en is a horror movie that took me by surprise. It was not a pleasant surprise.

From the edgy and original titles to the top-notch acting to a screenplay that keeps you completely engrossed in the story, Se7en is a quality production. So what's the problem?

Call me crazy, but I think that for a movie to be entertaining, it has to be pleasing in some way. It should make you laugh, or maybe you learn something from it. If it's a sad movie, you should leave feeling as if there was some kind of cosmic justice to the sad outcome. In other words, there should be a satisfying finality to the story. Isn't that why we like stories at all? If we wanted real life, we wouldn't be watching a movie.

When Se7en ended, I wanted to know what the point of this tragedy (in the Shakesperean sense) was. We spend two hours watching our heroes make difficult choices and deal with tough situations. They (and we) are rewarded with a grisly and unsatisfactory conclusion.

I would like to leave Se7en behind me, as I do with probably four of every five movies I watch. Unfortunately, I find it haunting me with its pointless gruesomeness. Perhaps the deeper meaning of this movie will come to me eventually. But I doubt it.

Rating:
Summary: WATCH IT
Review: I think that Se7en is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

It is thrilling and shocking to see how a man, here the great Kevin Spacey as John Doe, creates such a suspense by judging his victims based on the seven deadly sins.

The film shows very well that brutality and intelligence are often very close to each other, which makes this film so exciting - you never know what'll happen next.

Furthermore you can see the different characters of two detectives fantastic-played by Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

All in all a thrilling masterpiece of Hollywood!

YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT!!!

Rating:
Summary: Mood
Review: Seven is a film that is built on mood and performance. The movie for all intensive purposes shows just one murder happen on screen and that's by gunshot. What makes this movie so disturbing to people is it leaves a lot up to the imagination which is a much stronger tool. What the movie expertly does is set a mood by the way it's shot, by the constant raining and darkly lit, dunging sets, and an eerie soundtrack. It also sports one of the most distubing opening credit sequences which the filmmakers put a lot of thought and time into.

I liked that the movie focused not on delivering shocking moments but on themes of the human condition. Each of the main three characters presents a different viewpoint of life and purpose. What may disturb people most is that even the seriel killer makes a compelling arguement (in a sick way) and is guided by a deep rooted conviction.

If you like movies with happy endings do not see this film. This film was not made to have you leave with a smile. It does make you think however. I respect what the film accomplishes and the amount of care and detail that the filmmakers poured into this project and for that I give it four stars.

A note on the DVD --- It is one of the best out there in terms of presentation and special edition material. However, the alternnate ending is terrible. First off it is in storyboard form, secondly in is only slightly different but enough to be aweful so don't have your hopes up for something great in that regard.