Review – Seven

Style triumphs over substance in this serial killer thriller. Almost everything in this movie – from the killer’s artistic mania down to the cops’ personality quirks – appear to be designed to facilitate the use of murky, jump-cut visuals. The result is something that looks really cool (though upon re-viewing many years later, more than a little dated) but doesn’t pack a lot of substance. Some of the “seven deadly sins” killings have a certain horribleness to them, but even that’s undone when the monomaniacal murderer deviates from his pattern in order to directly threaten his pursuers. The cast features big names like Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey, though it isn’t really a finest-moment for any of them. Mildly amusing