A really intriguing and griping dramatisation of the hunt for Bin Laden that remains full of suspense even though you pretty much know the story and the ending going in.
I also found time to go see Zero Dark Thirty at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square this week.
The Empire Cinema is one of several cinemas in Leicester Square though having never been to see a film in the West End before this in itself was a novelty.
Going in I was a little worried that this would be another excuse for some terrible historical butchery by the Hollywood flag-waving half-wit fanatics behind films such as The Patriot. However I was pleasantly surprised to see very little in that regard, and a surprising candor about some of the more controversial events such as the alleged torture of prisoners. This is a topic the film has received some criticism around, by appearing to glorify the practice, but I don't feel this was the case.
The film is all about the ten years between 9/11 and the mission that found and killed Osama Bin Laden. The producers claim to have based the story elements of the film on first hand accounts of actual events, how true this is I'm not entirely sure but the film centres around one intelligence operative in particular who makes it her personal mission to see Bin Laden killed.
It starts with her joining the team responsible for finding leads on the whereabouts of Bin Laden and culminates with information they provided being responsible for sending the strike teams in on the compound where he was hiding.
It is particularly long at a little over two and a half hours, but rarely do you find yourself noticing - such is the mastery with which the story is woven around the events we have all heard about in the news, namely the many Al Qaeda bombings around the World.
Zero Dark Thirty makes for really good viewing with strong a performance from the cast that brings the story together, fills in the gaps and draws you into the hunt. Definitely one to watch, especially for fans of Homeland.
9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment