Zodiac

This like many movies was on my Netflix list for a long time. I kept seeing preview snapshots from the film and saying, I need a time to watch this movie with my complete attention.

Well if luck would have it, I got sick this weekend and didn't really have much to do besides watch Netflix. And since I seem to be on a serial killer flix spree with shows like The Following and Dexter. I thought this would fit that bill perfectly.

I suppose a little bit of background is needed for this review as it is a historical drama. The Zodiac killer was a serial killer who was mostly known for the cryptic messages he sent to local California newspapers giving cryptic clues in a strange attempt to see who could discover who he was.

The messages were posted for about a year as the killings continued. After a couple years, the Zodiac killer was just forgotten as the papers no longer published his messages and to this day, the case still remains an open case.

Now, in 2014, the case is about 46 years old. I'm just going to go on a hunch that it will never be solved.

Now I'm going to feel old saying this but this movie came out 7 years ago in 2007. But even then the case had been open for a while and I don't think anybody thought it would magically be solved any time soon.

But this movie isn't so much about the case being solved, though it does have its own theories about who the Zodiac killer is, its more about the men who were key actors in the case and how it affected their daily lives.

The movie mainly focuses on the people working at the San Francisco Chronicle. These characters are Robert Graysmith (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and Paul Avery (played by Robert Downey Jr., a year before he became Iron Man)

Gyllenhaal really takes a backseat to Downey in the first half of this movie as Paul Avery becomes main decoder as it were of the Zodiac codes. But the two pair up and work to uncover clues around this case.

Its not really until almost a half hour in that we're introduced to our third main character. Inspector David Toschi who is put on the Zodiac killer case. And he stays there... for a LONG time.

Mark Ruffalo plays the Inspector and you can see the strain this case has on him throughout the movie, especially as the years start to stack up and there is still no sign of finding out who this killer is.

This happens with all three of these characters. Gyllenhaal doesn't really get into the investigating until the last act of the movie and by that point, Downey and Ruffalos characters are already burnt out. Paul Avery had a letter sent straight to him and carried a gun with him for the rest of his life because he believed his life was at risk from this killer. And Toschi is so burnt out on this case that it ruins his life. By the time Gyllenhaal starts doing a lot of investigating, the trial is very cold, and Toschi is not the only one telling Robert Graysmith that it's time for him to let it go.

So the movie goes from 1968 to 1983 in a span of three hours, chronicling the different murders that can be confirmed as Zodiac murders and those he just claimed to have committed. But the movie goes on past the point where the Zodiac is big news. By the end, the Zodiac killer is just an urban myth, an unsolved crime. But the impressive part about the movie is that you see how it wears down the different characters.

Personally, my favorite parts of the movie were the parts where you actually saw the murders occur. Not only that but you saw the police work and investigation going into responding to these crimes, as well as the response the chronicle has to it.

However, as time goes by, the Chronicle stops publishing codes, the police lose the trail and the movie slows down. A LOT.

And for a nearly three hour movie, it was hard not to have the movie kind of in the background. Now that's not the best idea because it is a complex movie and if you're not paying attention, you may miss some twist and turn of the investigation. But in the end, there's a couple scenes that you could probably forego and it wouldn't take that much out of the movie, in fact it would make it a shorter movie, which, if you can do a movie just as good in a shorter time, why not do it?

But what about different performances in the movie?

I think the most notable is that of Robert Downey Jr. He of course is playing the typical cocky, but incredible talent of the group and he knows it. Its kind of hard watching movies with Downey that isn't Iron Man because I had the misfortune (or fortune?) of never really seeing his work during his drug use years and this is probably the earliest work I've seen him in.

I kind of had the same problem with Mark Ruffalo in Now You See Me... for the first five minutes. But in this movie I had problems the entire time. Now that isn't really fair because I know this movie came out first but its just kind of funny. I will definitely have to look into other Downey movies because he's a tremendous actor and while Iron Man is a great role, I think he's bigger than that role. Especially since I've seen him in Sherlock Holmes as well.

Speaking of Ruffalo, he was good. I won't say he stole the show because he didn't. As I've stated before, the theme throughout the movie is how this case ruins the life for all three. And while I saw the ways his life was being ruined, I never really got to see Ruffalo react. And even at the end when there's a sense of closure, its very brief and not really fulfilling for me.

And Gyllenhaal its kind of the same.

I mean you can see Gyllenhaal make this an obsession and there's actually a point where his wife straight up asks him, where does it stop? Does it stop when you arrest this guy?

And he doesn't really give a straight answer. And I think that was pretty cool. With Ruffalo its more of an internal thing and Gyllenhaal you can definitely see the struggle.

But that's the part of the movie that I'm kind of ehh about. When I first heard about this movie, I thought it was going to be a little bit more about the actual clues and investigation, trying to uncover the truth about this mystery that had been going on for years.

Instead it was a drama mostly about the people involved, and while the final product was pretty good, it was just kind of slow. I think I was expecting a little bit more of a psychological thriller and what I got was alright.

The fact of the matter is, the Zodiac killer isn't that fascinating.

I think Hollywood and urban myths overdramatizes, not only the Zodiac killer and a lot of serial killers. But unfortunately, this movie really kind of made the Zodiac killer seem very insignificant. Halfway through the movie, I kind of just said, this is just a sad depraved mind that wants attention, not really a brilliantly evil personality. And I think we get too much of that with characters like Dexter, Patrick Bateman, and Joe Carroll. The fact of the matter is, those serial killers are few and far between. The other ones dress up in silly costumes like the one to my left.

I think in the past I may have thought this looked cryptic or creepy but when I saw it in the film, it just looked kind of stupid.

Now I don't want to belittle the innocent lives taken by this killer but in the end, the impact really doesn't feel that big in this movie. In reality, they can only confirm the Zodiac killer killed 3 or 4 people and in the big picture, even if they caught the killer in the movie, I don't know if I would have felt really satisfied.

But since this is a historical drama, they couldn't add that in there so the movie just kind of ends. They find a person they believe is the killer but nobody really gets caught. There's just a little bit of closure for Ruffalo and Gyllenhaal and the movie closes out with historical facts how any movie claiming to be based on true events ends.

 So in the end, Zodiac is really a mediocre film in my opinion. I think the performances are very well done but in the end, its not really memorable.

I think I went into this movie thinking that Zodiac was nominated for an Oscar in something. Now Oscar nominations doesn't always necessary to be good but for all the hype this movie had I think it was overhyped. It wasn't really a movie I plan on watching again. Not really worth recommending and kind of forgettable.

Now that's just my opinion, have you seen Zodiac? What did you think? Comment below and discuss.

I'll leave you with this. So apparently Robert Downey Jr. can sing. Who knew? Enjoy.