Zero Dark Thirty

Following a run of overlooked work in the 1980s and 90s including the brilliant western vampire flick Near Dark and knucklehead surf movie Point Break, Kathryn Bigelow finally gained critical and box office recognition with 2008’s fascinating bomb disposal picture The Hurt Locker, an exhilarating tour de force that followed an EOD unit during the Iraq war. Three years later and Bigelow returns with another delve into war torn terrain with this equally captivating documentary style action hybrid about the events leading up to the capture of Osama Bin Laden.

Zero Dark Thirty dramatises the evidence gathering process and investigation while skilfully weaving action genre traits with documentary characteristics in the guise of a modern day war picture. But like the 80s action films it often emulates there is little time for character development. As a result the film fails to resonate on a deeper level yet offers an impeccably crafted and fascinating insight into the operation surrounding the capture.

Jessica Chastain is Maya, an intelligence analyst freshly recruited into a CIA division investigating terror cells. After being briefed on the formalities, including the appropriate methods for extracting information from suspects, Maya morphs seamlessly into the role of a CIA operative, going from humble office junior to hardened war bitch in no time. As colleagues die, pointless facts over pile and several false leads grate on the team, Maya uncovers a source containing information on a secluded fortress in Abbottabad that could be the hiding place of the world’s most wanted man.

The documentary style and action amalgamation makes a fitting meld, combining torture, interrogation and high-octane scenes with gradual plot progression and a News 24 style unravelling in a manner fitting to the source, while Director Bigelow evokes tension well and keeps things moving at a commendable pace. The first two hours is jarringly crafted and sometimes disorientating due to the shaky, hand held camera but its an appropriate style given the story. The stark presentation of facts is cold yet gripping in its relentless extrication but as the story does not totally adhere to a strict narrative structure, spending far too much time embroiled in the operation and not enough time exploring the characters, it sometimes fails to engage on a deeper level yet remains compelling.

Performances do the job but are by the numbers with characters often reminiscent of the clichéd 80s action heroes ridiculed in The Expendables movies, sprouting cardboard dialogue laced with butch bravado that up until recently was only associated with the video fodder that Stallone is currently lampooning (consciously or not). While these characters are fitting to ZD30s function to relay information, briefing the viewer on the required intel leading to the final act, they are notably flat in the context.

Lead Maya’s macho feminism is more reminiscent of Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 or Jamie Lee Curtis in Bigelow’s early 90s cop drama Blue Steel, but on the other hand she does bring some welcome humour to the proceedings. Upon having to justify her presence in a meeting full of hackneyed colonels and higher ranking civil servants Maya declares nonchalantly the she’s “the mother fucker that found him”.

Zero Dark Thirty had been in planning for some time prior to the execution of Bin Laden in Abbottabad and underwent extensive re-writes as a result before going into production, but the core of the story remained. And despite the lack of emotive depth, it is an exhilarating juggernaut of entertainment taut with thrills and jarring action, and with a breathtaking finale that will rattle your very core. This amalgam of genre attributes is interesting, but without any seeming subtext or heart it is nothing more than a brilliantly produced piece of news reel fiction that will educate and entertain but not totally engage.

Zero Dark Thirty is in cinemas from 25th January.