Film #30 of The December Challenge (2013 Insomniac Edition)

David Fincher has always been one of my favorite directors, Fight Club and Seven being two of my all-time favorite films. His movies feel right. He knows how to tell a story regardless of its subject. May it be about the origins of Facebook, a gothic tale about violence against women, or even about a man with mental issues whose mind resorts to an alter ego to end his depression. Zodiac is, if I'm not mistaken, Fincher's second attempt at an investigation story, and once again, he makes it flawlessly.

Zodiac is not your average investigation movie. It tells the true story of a newspaper cartoonist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who becomes obssessed with the Zodiac Killer. The movie shows us everything revolving around the Zodiac killings - the police investigation, the newspaper investigation, the effects that this very own investigation causes on the lives of the people involved. This is a movie driven by dialogue and dialogue alone, aided by the movie's flawless suspense vibe. Fincher focuses more on this than the killings themselves, and that's a good thing. He doesn't take the liberties of adding elements to the story so he can create useless action scenes to keep audiences interested. No, he doesn't do that. That's what separates this movie from the other investigation films.

Another positive aspect is that Fincher recreates the 60's and 70's vibe perfectly. This movie reminded me of the videogame L.A. Noire. Not only are they similar because of their noir style and the time period they're set into, but also because of how well they delve into investigation.

Every member of the cast was great. Mark Ruffalo plays the cop in charge on the investigation and Robert Downey Jr. plays a reporter who's in charge of writing about the Zodiac Killer.

Zodiac is a very good investigation thriller and a standout in director David Fincher's career. One of the best in its genre, Zodiac takes its place in the Top 20 movies of its decade, and comes highly recommended.