Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
I increasingly dislike the work of Kathryn Bigelow. I loved Blue Steel, particularly the opening title sequence. Point Break's OK. I think Strange Days is one of the most impressive films I've ever seen. ... But then latterly we've had The Hurt Locker, and now Zero Dark Thirty (2012). What's with Bigelow: is she trying to prove she can be even more macho than James Cameron?
This is a bad film, in most meanings of the word. Not only because it attempts to justify murder. It also has an unforgivably long sequence of torture-porn in the first third, and then another unforgivably long sequence shot in low light in the last. During the invasion of the compound it's not only difficult to understand just what is being done to whom (quite deliberately, I imagine) it's also difficult to actually see much at all, given that it's shot at night and everything is either black or green.
Where are Rodgers and Hammerstein when you need them?
reviews | Garry Gillard | New: 1 March, 2017 | Now: 13 June, 2019