In 2008, a certain director named Kathryn Bigelow took the world – and the Academy Awards – by storm with the critically acclaimed movie ‘The Hurt Locker.’ Garnering numerous perfect reviews and accolades (including Best Picture from the Oscars), Bigelow set a new standard for war movies to come. Now with the success of ‘The Hurt Locker’ behind her, she has returned with an even more ambitious film than her last one: ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ a film based on the true story on the 10-year manhunt for Osama bin Ladin.
Bigelow’s latest movie could have easily squandered under the weight of its own ambition, but ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is a superbly crafted and tense thriller that works as much as an insightful historical retelling as it does as a fascinating character study.
The story of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ focuses on Maya, an agent sent by the CIA whose sole purpose is to track down Osama bin Ladin. While Maya is a fictional character (though one likely influenced by somebody else), she is a fascinating character study of someone lost in the career they chose and the impact it has on them physically and mentally.
The movie is superbly directed by Bigelow and complimented by a top-notch screenplay from Mark Boal and excellent performances from the entire cast, but Jessica Chastain’s performance as Maya is easily the star of the movie. In every scene Chastain commands the screen with a tormented presence where her exhaustion and determination is palpable, and her performance may even be good enough to quality for an Oscar.
While the movie likely took liberties with real events – as every Hollywood adaptation of a true story does – the presentation of the story blurs the line between fiction and reality. The movie is dark, but not overly so; it presents the story in a way that feels plausible and more importantly real. Terrorist attacks come out of nowhere and are sometimes shocking (some in the movie are real attacks while others are fictional) and the gravity of the situation at hand is always apparent. It’s life-or-death, and everything from the flinchingly powerful sound design to the non-glamorous but effective cinematography captures it all perfectly, and eventually the movie culminates in an incredible climax that feels very much like one is experiencing the real thing.
Casual audiences may be bored or exhausted with the long running time and deliberately slow pacing, but those with the patience to endure it will be rewarded with an exciting and intelligent war film that treats the source material with the utmost respect. There may be those who will criticize the movie for inaccuracies in how something is portrayed, but in the end no cinemagraphic effort can capture the real thing exactly the way it was.
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is a superb recreation of the biggest manhunt in history that has all of the essentials of an excellent movie, and war has never looked more terrifying. Kathryn Bigelow has officially outdone herself again, and hopefully this won’t be the last time.
Rating: 10/10 (Superb)
– Seth Childers
