"Zero Dark Thirty" will make feel 'dark' inside

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2013)

A decade and billions of dollars later the world's most intelligent people and military team get together and finally achieve the impossible. I just had the opportunity to watch the extraordinary film, Zero Dark Forty. It's directed and written by Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal from the Hurt locker, an "oscar winning team". The movie is a "story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man". It's based on true first hand accounts but obviously a lot of drama added to make it a Hollywood movie. I would like to share my opinion on this outstanding film.
The plot consisted on how they were able to track down Osama Bin Laden. The movie narrates the life of this young CIA officer named Maya. Ever since 9/11, she has dedicated her entire life to this mission. This movie takes place in various settings. It starts out in the CIA headquarters in the United States. It then, moves to different 'black sites' in which they question prisoners about Ammar. This is who Maya suspects is closely linked to the whereabouts of Bin Laden. Later on Maya is able to survive the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabed. Succeeding, Jessica, Maya's colleague, is killed by a suicide bomber in Camp Champman. Nevertheless, they continue the search which eventually leads them to finding of Bin Laden. He is murdered by the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Naval Special Warfare Development group. His body is brought to Jalalabad, Afghanistan where Maya identifies and confirms that they have successfully killed the world's worst terrorist.
The protagonist of this movie is a young women named Maya which is played by Jessica Chastain. She has this vigorous desire to capture Bin Laden and the audience is quickly engaged in what seems to be an impossible hunt. She makes it appear as if it were her life quest to capture this man and her persistence is what astonished me. I was driven by her passion on this mission. Therefor, it is adequate to say that I really liked the job she did. I found it interesting to compare her with the cast of actors of CSI Miami. They also play the role of forensic scientist. They're very similar to Maya. Both seem have an immense aspiration to solve these intricate challenges. I also can't help but also mention Jason Clarke. He played Dan, the CIA interrogator. This was also not an easy job at all. He was in charged of torturing and showing his frustration when the accused terrorist neglected to give up any sort of information. It was evident that Jason Clarke was very well prepared. I was not surprised when I found out that the actor admitted to have investigated a lot prior to the filming. He says it really helped him to be able to prepare both emotionally as well as physically for the harsh torture scenes.
I liked the vast majority of the film. Nevertheless, there is a small handful of scenes that I would have changed or removed. First of all, I think the major problem with the film is that it makes it appear as if beating is a successful method to get information out of criminals. This in fact, took no roll what so ever in the finding of Bin Laden. Another aspect that I disliked is how Maya is portrayed as a complete heroine. Of course there has to be drama added for it to be an interesting but she was way too exaggerated. Regardless, I still think this is a phenomenal film.
I think it is adequate to say this film teaches several lessons. It is not exactly designed just to teach one. The purpose of the film was not to leave the audience with an specific lesson. It's not one of those movies like the Bucket List where the motive is clear, which is to live life at the fullest Despite this, it does teach critical aspects in life. First off, it shows how justice is always served in the end. It also emphasizes how torture is not the solution. It affects the two sides. The criminal and the one torturing are both damaged. Most importantly, this film taught me is how vital not giving up. Even is in order to succeed. Maya was extremely consistent and not matter what, she did not give up in her ten year search.
According to the MPAA rating system this movie has been ranked as R. The movie contains a lot of violence, especially beatings. These are very brutal and at times include nudity. Inappropriate language is also very common throughout the entire movie. People are killed in cold blood which can be traumatizing to young audiences. Accordingly, I could not agree more with the movie being ranked as R. It is defiantly not for children. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in crime or action. Also, anyone who is like me. I'm completely intrigued by forensic science. This is why I can't help but mention that I can be considered a critical bias. I'm extremely interested in this area of science so it was almost impossible for me to dislike the movie.
Scale of 1 - 100 93%
Emily is a sophomore student at Lincoln School. She enjoys sports, especially soccer and running. She is not sure what she wants to study but has many ideas. Some of these include genetics, engineering, entrepreneurship and clearly, forensic science. This was what lead her to watch this movie in the first place.