Zero Dark Thirty

Synopsis: Bin waiting on this one for a while...

Review: Like the ubiquitous chick flick, US war movies have been released on an almost weekly basis, so much so that the thought of stomaching another piece of trumped up Hollywood propaganda makes you wish they flew the planes into Los Angles instead of the other Sep 11 targets. That said Zero Dark Thirty is a much more unique take on the War on Terrorism which has dominated contemporary popular media in the last few years. Now, we all know how the story ends so there’s not really a whole lot to say about the plot. It’s the same old boy meets girl, fall in love, fly planes into geographically significant landmarks and then in turn be pursued around the globe for the better part of ten plus years. The story centres primarily on protagonist Maya (Jessica Chastain) a new CIA interrogator operating in various CIA ‘black zones’ in the Middle East. Recruited out of high school she’s forced to learn some of the less humane CIA interview techniques in order to garnish information as to the whereabouts of Bin Laden and his inner circle.

Although you would never class this as a documentary it is based on real, historically significant events in the last ten years and provides an interesting insight into the way in which the war has been conducted. The engaging thing about this story is that it quite openly chronicles the grim, gory and sometimes confronting elements of the war against terrorism and the lengths that the ‘good guys’ have gone to in the search for Bin Laden. Furthermore it really does give you an impression of the ineptitude of government departments at times (even at an elite level) and the element of luck that seems to have been involved in Bin Laden’s eventual assassination.

For those that are looking for the good old shoot-em-up this film will not be for you. Bought to us by the director (Kathryn Bigelow) and writer (Mark Boal) of the Academy Award winning Hurt Locker the film’s momentum relies heavily on the compelling performances of the various actors as opposed to the typical Die Hard formula of stunts, crashing cars/planes/boats and enough explosives to clear out the bowel contents of even the most severely constipated. Like Hurt Locker there’s this strong level of suspense that builds throughout the film, which results in a palpable level of anxiety for the viewer, but eventually subsides once the final attack on Bin Laden’s compound in Islamabad. One thing I particularly appreciated was the way the final attack is shot. There is no fanfare that we usually see in some flicks, just a raw cinematic chronicling of the way in which the mission to assassinate him was carried out. Overall Zero Dark Thirty is an engaging, suspenseful well produced insight into the war on terrorism, however this isn’t one to take the partner to on date night unless you’re willing to repay the favour tenfold in chick flicks.

Rating: 3/5