Grace, Peace, and Thanks to you, again, dear readers. I come to you with a cypher to decode and use in order to solve a mystery. I do this becasue I am not intelligent to solve the cypher myself, but I have faith in your abilities. Please don’t let me down…

Okay, Zodiac is not the standard thriller. In some ways it’s much, much better. The movie follows the varying persons trying to find the identity of the notorious “Zodiac Killer”, an actual murderer in California from the mid 1960s through the 1970s. The killer was never caught, but his obsessive murders exaserbated hundreds of hours and hundred-of-thousands of dollars in research and investigation. The movie is primarily concerned with Cartoonist Brian Naysmith, whose obsession over Zodiac led him to a personal quest to find the murderer and publish a novel about not only the murder but the events and investigations that followed him. The movie spans the course of about 15 years, jumping even further 15 years later when the “reveal” happens!

Now, for those of you familiar with the work of David Fincher, you’ll know what to expect from Zodiac. Great stroytelling and direction, powerful visuals, and haunting gore. This, however, is no Se7en. Fincher’s storytelling in this film is much more calmly paced, not slowly but calmly; and the gore is not an ever-present, ominous dark cloud of trauma. Rather, the film is front-loaded with the killings and gore, but once the second act begins, the film shifts completely to a picture obsessed with creepy ambiance more than outright gore and violence. And it works really, really well. At least for me.

I just dug everything about the film. The hightened focus on ambiance led to a very engaging film, and I was constantly trying to solve the mystery alongside the lead; and with every new piece of information, I, like him, was frustrated, confused, encouraged, and all other manner of emotion. It was a ride, and a fun one, at that. I enjoyed all of the characters, for different reasons, and I thought all the acting was solid. The music used is excellent, not only for identifying the era of America in which the movie takes place but also for setting mood. I have no complaints about this flic actually. I enjoyed every aspect of it!

Zodiac gets an easy 6 out of 7. This isn’t one of my all-time favorites, but it is solid. Very solid. It’s visually engaging and well-paced despite its extensive running-time and decade-long plot covered in the story. I really, really enjoy this flic, and I am very excited to see it again.