Zero Dark Thirty

In the same spirit as The Hurt Locker. When possible, it is impersonal, cold, and always absolutely precise; while in crucial moments it is deadly to the point that my teeth almost chatter. I wanted to deliberately undermine Kathryn Bigelow in my review for the fact that, with its running time, documentary storytelling style, and barely glimpsed characters, it remains constantly unappealing to the average viewer. But it simply can't be done. Faced with the perfect Mark Strong and a six-star finale, there is nothing left but to salute the quiet and unnoticed ZD30. (24/02/2013)

The losers have a voice and dignity (which we realize when they are completely denied and the film does not turn “eyes"), the winners are not here - only strange marked beings without intimacy and pleasure, lonely technocrats who approve to any sort of crap, but it breaks them down when someone shoots their favorite monkeys. One of the American critics wrote that this procedural view of "the administration of justice" is amoral and came, like Greengrass' Flight 93, too soon. I say: just in time. Maybe one day we will see a film where everything will be given with clear moral values, the good will be good and the bad will be bad. This will be the story of the winners. Zero Dark Thirty is a story of lost and abandoned people, which can be interpreted as admiration for the performance of the bureaucratic machinery of the secret services, but rather offers the interpretation that Bigelow has made another bold film about stigmatized individuals who "move history". (14/02/2013)

It doesn’t have the balls of The Hurt Locker, but it’s much more interesting. Immediately having left the nest, Maya the Honey Bee is entrusted with the job to find the bearded villain who knocked down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Maya was looked for him, grumbling that she’s lacks the means, then she found him and sent a team to take him out. A tear was shed. The End. I hope I haven’t spoiled the ending for you with this SPOILER that they got Bin Laden. :) Jessica Chastain was the energetic powerhouse of the entire movie, even with her one-dimensional character who lives for work alone, and she continues on and up in her career development. As for the other members of the actors’ ensemble, the awesome Jason Clarke is No. 1 in this picture, winning over the audience with his interrogation at the beginning. Mark Strong rocks again, his entry is one of the most memorable scenes of the movie. Kathryn Bigelow managed everything she had to, but as a whole it’s too long and spends a long time beating about the bush. I know that this was how it really happened, but it harms the story. Otherwise decent work, nothing more. It's cool, that you're strong and I respect it, I do. But in the end, everybody breaks, bro. It's biology. (15/01/2013)

I have a minor issue with Kathryn Bigelow in this movie; in comparison to the genius Hurt Locker, it’s the complete oppositemovie-wise. While The Hurt Locker was pure action with barely any story, Zero Dark Thirty is mostly a story that completely overshadows everything else. It attempts to be such a precisely told Bin Ladin operation that it sometimes forgets that it’s a movie and not a book. That’s exactly why the movie is 157 minutes long and why there’s a couple of moments that were incredibly boring to me. If it weren’t for the last half an hour, I’d be pretty pissed. Luckily, Jessica Chastain was keeping everything on such a strong level that I couldn’t close my eyes throughout the movie; it’d simply be too much of a shame. (06/09/2014)

"The ultra-professional result may be easier to respect than enjoy," said Peter Debruge in his review for “Variety” and I couldn’t agree more. The process that lead to the discovery of the hideout of Osama bin Laden and his killing is very well portrayed, with Jessica Chastain as a “tough” agent, cold and emotionless. It must have been the only way to film this story so shortly after the events, without turning it into dumb propaganda or, on the contrary, a silly anti-American conspiracy. Thumbs up, for sure, but did I enjoy it? No. It’s still a three-hour long borefest in the desert rather than a gripping war movie. (06/01/2013)