I just rewatched Seven for the first time in probably about ten years. Everything's been said by now, but I had to lower the score from a 9 to an 8 for two reasons. One, although I usually like Pitt in his roles, the younger version of him here- he's not really a good actor yet, except for the final ten minutes. He was bumbling, unrealistically cocky at times, and it was hard to decipher some of his words. Juxtaposed to the outstanding acting of Freeman, it quite a bit feels like he drags some scenes down, at least until the end. Second, while I really enjoy how the script and movie overall deals with literature, sins, and philosophy, it doesn't quite dig deep enough to make a lasting mark on th viewer's insight; much like their library research, it feels more like a 101 class or cliffnotes. Now, at least they do scratch the surface, and there are two to three great conversations that go under the surface a little more, but despite these scenes the overall ending of the film makes it just equate to pessimism, which is not entirely true to life. While you empathize with Somerset's perspective, the fact is the vast majority of people are mostly good.
In Conclusion, Seven deserves lots of credit for its originality (at the time), uniqueness, cinematography, more profound material for the typical entry into the genre in terms of philosophical debate and historical literature, as well as an awesome performance by Freeman, but ultimately it just misses becoming a true masterpiece for the same reason it became so popular: metaphorically hitting the audience with an emotional sledgehammer (as Spacey's character philosophizes) with an abrupt, pessimistic ending (good final scene quoting Hemingway, by the way) without quite delving deep enough into the surface-scratching literature leaves the viewer without much takeaway despite it, other than the fact it was a good, entertaining thriller movie. This disqualifies it from being a masterpiece and its current #19 ranking on here is surprising. It feels more like a #50-80 area range film, not a top 20 all-time, but still a classic.
In Conclusion, Seven deserves lots of credit for its originality (at the time), uniqueness, cinematography, more profound material for the typical entry into the genre in terms of philosophical debate and historical literature, as well as an awesome performance by Freeman, but ultimately it just misses becoming a true masterpiece for the same reason it became so popular: metaphorically hitting the audience with an emotional sledgehammer (as Spacey's character philosophizes) with an abrupt, pessimistic ending (good final scene quoting Hemingway, by the way) without quite delving deep enough into the surface-scratching literature leaves the viewer without much takeaway despite it, other than the fact it was a good, entertaining thriller movie. This disqualifies it from being a masterpiece and its current #19 ranking on here is surprising. It feels more like a #50-80 area range film, not a top 20 all-time, but still a classic.