Zero Dark Thirty Review

Can this retelling of the hunt for Bin Laden live up to its namesake?
More than most motion pictures available on the market, Zero Dark Thirty brings with it added gravitas in that it comes from the minds behind 2008's Best Picture Oscar winner The Hurt Locker and indeed has been nominated for the 2013 Award itself. If that were its only cause for anticipation, perhaps it would be simple to approach the matter with relatively high objectivity, yet that it focuses on the iconic hunt for and execution of one of the most infamous figures of the past half-century makes it an immediate case where objectivity is damn near impossible to come by.

All the same, treated as a film on its own individual merits, Zero Dark Thirty certainly comes packed with its fair share of notable strengths. For starters, Kathryn Bigelow's direction of the piece is absolutely visionary, bringing home in full the fear and dedication the brave men and women behind the location and defeat of Bin Laden showed through a wide variety of perfectly posed shots and angles that should easily have placed Bigelow firmly in the Oscars' Best Director category. Undoubtedly, this is up there with Argo for a realistic and gritty depiction of one of the single darkest missions of recent times, and although it can't possibly match the scale and sheer awe of Les Miserables, it's certainly a sight to behold in its own right.

Bigelow has judged her cast fairly well too, especially with her discovery of one Jessica Chastain. Where big-name stars such as Mark Strong and John Barrowman are relegated neat yet insubstantial roles in the background, Chastain dominates the screen in every shot she inhabits as Maya, a devilishly empathetic intelligence agent whose own diligence and dedication to the vital cause she works for is an admirable real-world that should with any luck never be forgotten thanks to this film. It's a bit of a shame that there are no other true standout performances here, yet when Chastain puts up such a fantastic effort it's hard to complain for too long on that matter.

One gripe that I did find becoming a problem in the centre section of the film was its running time. Much as I felt that Django Unchained could quite easily have shaved a good ten minutes off of its climax, so too did it feel as if in attempting to capture every single moment in this incredible mission, the writers of the film lost sight of the momentum and compulsion that such an ambitious motion picture should always contain. To me, this is what gives both Argo and Les Miserables the upper hand in the Best Picture race right now- they use every shot, every moment to their advantage and waste no time, whereas Zero Dark Thirty sags at its halfway point and takes time to pick up its momentum until its absolutely thrilling climax.

Yes, no one will be able to contradict the assertion that as the movie heads into its vaunted confrontation, its building tension and sense of reverence to the events it portrays reach their crux in a meaningful and harrowing manner that no one could quite have anticipated. Sure we knew that the final 'Zero Dark Thirty' mission conducted in 2012 was a dark and harrowing encounter, yet that'll scarcely prepare you for the sights that Bigelow has in store for you at the film's denouement. This isn't a criticism, though, quite the opposite: this harrowing climax is by far by the movie's finest hour, and the only real flaw in this respect is that no other scene ever quite matches the impressive ante of those closing scenes, a shortcoming that'll no doubt be made clearer and more notable in repeat viewings.

Nevertheless, you'd be ill advised to leave this review with the viewpoint that this is anything other than an essential must-watch. It's true, Zero Dark Thirty isn't perfect by any means, yet for anyone in the world who wants to relive the harsh 'nostalgia' of the past decade's most tragic events or indeed to see the truth behind the end of Bin Laden, this is by far your best port of call. Zero Dark Thirty is a thrilling journey that shines brightly enough in its concluding half hour to make it a compulsory watch for any film fan, even if that same sequence highlights Bigelow's inability to replicate the high level of quality consistently elsewhere.
4/5