"Zero Dark Thirty" is everything you've heard about it and more. It is an excellent movie that undoubtedly deserves the accolades it has received. Kathryn Bigelow's interpretation of the events surrounding this movie is brilliant. How she was snubbed by the Academy (just like Ben Affleck) for a Best Director Oscar is baffling!
Unless you are from another planet, you know the premise of this movie...The hunt for Osama bin Laden. This hunt actually started well before 9/11, but that tragedy amped up the pursuit for obvious reasons. This movie depicts these events with the seriousness and intensity that it deserves. And intense & powerful is exactly what this movie is. It is about 2 1/2 hours long and it seemed to fly by, it is THAT engaging. The portrayal of the inner workings of the CIA network and even the terrorist network is incredible as it shows just how elaborate both of these networks are. Even though we all know the outcome of this hunt, that does not take away from the tension and drama of this movie.
The main focus of this hunt is tracking down a key courier who delivered messages to & from bin Laden as he only communicated via these couriers and this particular courier was the main one. The CIA operative who insisted on tracking down this courier in spite of all efforts to thwart those efforts is Maya who is played by Jessica Chastain whose performance is outstanding. Her performance is Oscar-worthy and at least she was rightfully nominated. Her performance is emotional and she portrays Maya's determination & stubbornness perfectly. I can't imagine another actress doing a better job in this role.
The movie climax is the raid on bin Laden's compound and this particular segment might be the best part of the movie, which is saying a lot because this entire movie is superb. This part of the movie seems almost surreal. Bigelow's directing skills really come to the forefront here as she captures the harrowing aspects of the raid in stunning fashion.
"Zero Dark Thirty" is an excellent movie, one of my top 5 movies of 2012...9.0/10 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment