Go "Big"elow, or Go Home
by Mathews Thankachan
Zero Dark Thirty is a chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, following into his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May of 2011.
Zero Dark Thirty is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who also wrote and directed The Hurt Locker which won several Oscars in 2010, including ones for Best Director and Best Picture. It stars an exceptionally talented cast of actors, including Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
and Reda Kateb. The acting was terrific, and Chastain, Clarke, and Kateb played their characters perfectly. The settings were beautiful, appropriate and well made, and the filming and special effects were excellent. The movie is very suspenseful. During some scenes your heart may nearly stop.
The latter half of the movie is action packed, suspenseful and not very much like the earlier half of the movie. The earlier half of the movie is more detective-like, in which it consists of all the events that lead up to the climax of the film. It involves a certain degree
of thought as it necessarily isn’t part of the Bin Laden story that many may have expected, but the latter half is definitely worth getting through the earlier half for. Although the first half is a little slower, it complemented the second half well, and it wouldn’t have been as great as it was without the earlier suspense.
Zero Dark Thirty is rated R for strong violence, as it includes brutally disturbing images and foul language. Throughout the movie, the CIA deploys many gruesome and horrific--and perhaps questionable--interrogation methods including waterboarding and other
forms of torture. It’s an interesting insight as to what may or may not have occurred during this process in reality, and what can truly occur behind closed doors.
The movie additionally features many atrocious acts of violence, the most horrific ones being towards women and children. In one scene the members of S.E.A.L. Team 6 needlessly shoot men and women repeatedly, despite them lying still on the ground. This
may have been done intentionally, perhaps to portray the horrors that are typically present in during times of war. This movie is definitely not for everyone, and it’s not recommended for those who may be a bit light-hearted. The film is extreme and straightforward, perhaps needfully so, and doesn’t really have much censorship in the sense of violence.
Zero Dark Thirty is an excellent movie. Although the audience is aware of most of the main points of the movie and its ending, somehow the movie will still manage to keep you on your toes. The music was great, not too loud and only playing at the right times, the
background noise wasn’t distracting and only aided in making the viewing experience better. The acting was award worthy, the special effects weren’t overdone, and the
individual scenes were almost flawless. Although the ending is far from flawless, and by far the lowest point of this movie, Zero Dark Thirty is still an excellent movie that is worth watching and definitely worthy of receiving a solid 7 out of 10.
Considering how great the near last scenes were, the ending could have been a lot better and will leave you feeling incomplete. There were many different approaches
that could have been taken and this was a low point in an otherwise great movie.
Zero Dark Thirty is a chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, following into his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May of 2011.
Zero Dark Thirty is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who also wrote and directed The Hurt Locker which won several Oscars in 2010, including ones for Best Director and Best Picture. It stars an exceptionally talented cast of actors, including Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
and Reda Kateb. The acting was terrific, and Chastain, Clarke, and Kateb played their characters perfectly. The settings were beautiful, appropriate and well made, and the filming and special effects were excellent. The movie is very suspenseful. During some scenes your heart may nearly stop.
The latter half of the movie is action packed, suspenseful and not very much like the earlier half of the movie. The earlier half of the movie is more detective-like, in which it consists of all the events that lead up to the climax of the film. It involves a certain degree
of thought as it necessarily isn’t part of the Bin Laden story that many may have expected, but the latter half is definitely worth getting through the earlier half for. Although the first half is a little slower, it complemented the second half well, and it wouldn’t have been as great as it was without the earlier suspense.
Zero Dark Thirty is rated R for strong violence, as it includes brutally disturbing images and foul language. Throughout the movie, the CIA deploys many gruesome and horrific--and perhaps questionable--interrogation methods including waterboarding and other
forms of torture. It’s an interesting insight as to what may or may not have occurred during this process in reality, and what can truly occur behind closed doors.
The movie additionally features many atrocious acts of violence, the most horrific ones being towards women and children. In one scene the members of S.E.A.L. Team 6 needlessly shoot men and women repeatedly, despite them lying still on the ground. This
may have been done intentionally, perhaps to portray the horrors that are typically present in during times of war. This movie is definitely not for everyone, and it’s not recommended for those who may be a bit light-hearted. The film is extreme and straightforward, perhaps needfully so, and doesn’t really have much censorship in the sense of violence.
Zero Dark Thirty is an excellent movie. Although the audience is aware of most of the main points of the movie and its ending, somehow the movie will still manage to keep you on your toes. The music was great, not too loud and only playing at the right times, the
background noise wasn’t distracting and only aided in making the viewing experience better. The acting was award worthy, the special effects weren’t overdone, and the
individual scenes were almost flawless. Although the ending is far from flawless, and by far the lowest point of this movie, Zero Dark Thirty is still an excellent movie that is worth watching and definitely worthy of receiving a solid 7 out of 10.
Considering how great the near last scenes were, the ending could have been a lot better and will leave you feeling incomplete. There were many different approaches
that could have been taken and this was a low point in an otherwise great movie.
