"Zero Dark Thirty" Review

Strong ladies in a predominantly male world tend to appeal to my breed (aka. young feminists), even though I'm a stereotypical woman who gets sleepy-eyed during three hour war movies. No fear, unlike most of this year's Oscar noms, Kathryn Bigelow's narrative telling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden warrants every minute.

Zero Dark Thirty
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
My Opinion: An excellant telling.

The film opens with a sensational and candid relic of the 9/11 attacks. A montage of haunting recordings from victims' cell phones pierces against a comfortless pitch black screen. This introduction, though harrowing, sets up the rest of the film perfectly. Although it evokes an emotional response, Bigelow's introduction is not empty sensationalism. It actually does an appropriate job of setting up the graphic torture scene that quickly follows.

The film quickly sidles along with the protagonist, Maya (Jessica Chastain), a fresh-faced CIA agent who takes it upon herself to locate Osama bin Laden. Of course, the media has centered its focus on the torture element and I'm not going to waste my time being political. I will say that in my opinion, the torture scenes are very tasteful. She could have gone way farther with Hostel-style violence, which may have been more accurate. The torture victims are not demonized nor victimized, rather situation is depicted with a raw reality. The film isn't about torture techniques, it's about finding Osama bin Laden. The controversy, that has been obnoxiously over-examined thanks to The Huffington Post, isn't much. The film doesn't examine the aspect of torture, it just depicts it as a tool for gathering information. It will probably make people uncomfortable, just like any images of actual torture. However, it's absolutely mindless to discredit this film based on such a small element. It certainly deserves more than that.

Bigelow takes us on a thorough journey that ends with the SWAT team entering the secretive mansion in Pakistan. The film was a bit of an information overload for me, due to my ignorance of the details leading up to bin Laden's capture. However, everything is presented in a clean and organized way without sensationalism. Bigelow guides the audience along Maya's journey without adding any extra fluff. The acting is sharp and intense across the board and the cinematography is stunning and coarse. This film is fantastic.