Review of Zero Dark Thirty (2012) by Midlands M — 19 Oct 2013
After the impressive and award winning The Hurt Locker (2008), Kathryn Bigelow returns to Middle East tensions in this drama based on the ten-year struggle to find the perpetrators of 9/11. Their biggest goal is to capture (or kill) Osama/Usama Bin Laden himself and after many years, a courier is found to be delivering more than just food to a secure compound in Pakistan.
Taking us through all the major events, the film is a solid thriller with good acting and an amazing final 30 minutes as the US take the compound in the dead of night. The film takes a while to get going and not for one instant did this reviewer see the film as pro-torture - the characters get gobbledegook from the detainees by using it and the perpetrators are shown to be repulsed by it.
The acting however is a bit middling, Chastain is always good but cameos from John Barrowman (!!!) and James Gandolfini (couldn't help but think of his war-mongering role within In The Loop) took me "out" of the film's otherwise consistent attempts at realism.
If you enjoy the subject matter, then the Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill documentary (2011) is a must see follow up or if you're like me, even more essential as they interview everyone from the Head of the CIA to President Obama himself.
Not the breath of fresh air that Bigelow and writer Mark Boal's Hurt Locker was, the film still raises relevant questions about the War on Terror and its participants. Abuse Bigelow: Middle East Gigolo.
8/10 Midlands Movies Mike.
This review of Zero Dark Thirty (2012) was written by Midlands M on 19 Oct 2013.
Zero Dark Thirty has generally received very positive reviews.
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