Based on a true story, "The Zodiac" follows Sgt. Matt Parish who sets out to catch the San Francisco serial killer, and follows what happened in California in the late 1960s. The Zodiac killed on a random and was never caught.
This is not a bad movie, but one thing that felt quite bad was the fact that since the movie's based on true events, you also know how it's gonna end. They never caught the serial killer and you know that this flick is gonna end the same way. Now, I'm not asking for a movie where all the pieces comes together in the end, it's just that you know the outcome before you have actually seen the movie, and that felt a bit bad. But since it's based on a true story it makes it interesting. If this movie would've been just fiction, the ending would've probably come out looking even worse.
This movie focus just as much on Sgt. Matt Parish and his wife and son, as it focus on the serial killer. We get to follow Parish from when the killings first starts, to his obession with catching the killer and what that does to his family as well. His son, played by Rory Culkin, also becomes obsessed with the serial killer, something that the boy's mother of course does not approve of. We get to see the frustration within the police force for not being able to find any leads that would lead to the killers arrest, and at the same time we see the media blowing the story up and scaring people everywhere.
I was expecting a dull thriller made for tv, but it was actually better than that. Ok that it somewhat felt like a tv movie, but the story kept me interested from beginning to end. It's not only that The Zodiac killed people, but that he actually sent letters to the police, letting them know what he had done in detail etc. The movie has no gore, but the killings might still feel a bit disturbing since you know it's based on a true story. Also it gets more intense the further the movie goes, and it's definitely interesting even though we already know how it's gonna end.
The overall acting was good and even though there's not very much character development, it still works. We get to know the characters that is Parish, his wife and his son, but never on a deeper level. I'm kinda neutral when it comes to the acting, it wasn't great, still far from bad though, and I think Robin Tunney stood out a little more than the rest as the worried mother/wife.
Not a great flick but still interesting enough. Actually, I never lost interest for a minute and the story developed little by little and got a bit more intense as it went along. The Zodiac lasted for 92 minutes which felt a bit too short, it could've gone till the 2 hour mark without that it would've gotten boring. The pacing was very good, but the ending was a big disappointment. Not that the creators of this movie did anything wrong really, it's just that it felt like it all of a sudden was cut off, and didn't leave much satisfaction. Still, it's worth a look.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: In Control of All Things
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Alexander Bulkley
WRITING CREDITS: Alexander Bulkley, Kelley Bulkeley
GENRE: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
CAST: Justin Chambers, Robin Tunney, Rory Culkin
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 92 min
RATING: 5/10
Zodiac, The Website/IMDB Click here
Zodiac, The Trailer Click here
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