I have some mixed feelings about Zero Dark Thirty. First let me start with the positive. Incredible camera work done in really amazing locations gave this film the realistic atmosphere it needed given the subject matter. There is no doubt the film-making production wise is of the highest of quality - no issues there.
The attack of Osama's compound was so intense I think I forgot to breathe and nearly passed out halfway through. "Holy Shit!" are the only words I can think of which suitably describe this.
So what the fuck happened to the first half of the movie? I watched this one with the big feller (Guy) himself and about 40 minutes in we had some worried looks on our faces. It was boring.. plain and simple.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good slow build up but something was off here. Did we really need to see all that torture? I'm trying to think of other stuff but coming up blank - it was that unmemorable.
Bigelow is a master of tension.. Remember Hurt Locker defusing that car bomb. . .farkkkk.
I didn't get any of this in the first half. We all KNEW it was building up to the capture but it really didn't feel like it. Was that the entire point? Maybe, but makes for some slow viewing.
While I'm bitching I might also say that the movie didn't really drive home the absolute commitment of the main character to finding him. Showing her scribble a day count on the bosses window doesn't really cut it. No doubt there was an incredible amount of research going on it would have paid to show a little bit of this hard work.
Anyway the end makes it a destination worth the ride. I think I will give it another go on Blu-ray and see if I still feel the same way about it. Could have been in the wrong mood? Who knows.
7/10 - Saved by the bell, I mean compound invasion.
IMDB Info
Edit: This was another down point for me.. I can't take this guy seriously ever since King Kong...
I loved this. Thought it took what she did with Hurt Locker and multiplied it by 10. Loved the pace, loved the rawness of the first 30 minutes or so and the whole capture sequence in the last 45 minutes or so is gripping cinema at its best. 9/10 for me, and probably the best war related movie i've seen.
ReplyDeleteForget the first half.
ReplyDeleteI found that first fifteen minutes almost unbearable, especially the 9/11 emergency call audio which felt very intrusive. I'm slightly surprised there's been little comment on that in the reviews I've encountered.
This film was high on my radar and I went into it with best picture Oscar expectations .. so maybe that's why I was fairly disappointed. The opening torture stuff and the 9/11 calls were pretty full on and an odd introduction to the movie in my opinion. Then it just got boring. Holmsey and I were even contemplating moving on to something different, but I knew not to as everyone said the best of the film is the finale. An boy were they right. The final raid on Osama's house is simply the most tense action sequence I have ever witnessed. I don't think I took a breath for the last half an hour of the movie. I am simply in awe of how well Kathryn Bigelow did that and it honestly feels like I was part of the team that took Osama down. For that its worth the gut wrenching opening and the boring middle a million times over and I highly recommend seeing this film. I would give it an 8/10.
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