ZDT - Completely Disappointing

Rating: 2/10 (16 January 2013)

I had fairly average expectations for this film. I'm a fan of The Hurt Locker and assumed that I would at least like ZDT or at the very least appreciate it cinematically. Wow...I was wrong.
Bigelow's constant use of shaky, hand-held, tight shots and quick cuts doesn't allow the viewer to get a sense of the scenes at all. For the most part, we got to see the bland, over-made-up face of the lead actress as she flatly jumps from place to place eating stuff along the way. I felt like I was in a moving car trying to watch a movie from the window as we were traveling at 65 mph. I didn't care. I couldn't care. There wasn't enough time to absorb the content, and there was nothing about the characters (except for perhaps the SEALs) that made me feel any kind of empathy or sympathy for them.
The dialogue, especially in the beginning, was almost inaudible, and perhaps that helped the film because overall, the dialogue was dreadful - predictable, clichéd and flat-out silly in some parts.
I hope Bigelow uses a tripod for her next film and finds a script with some compelling characters and dialogue. I was extremely disappointed and had to fight my urge to leave the theater.