The best film of 2012.

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2013)

Believe it. This chase-thriller is an absolutely cracking good time and the best $15 you'll ever spend. Zero Dark Thirty starts off with a high-energy pace and holds this throughout the film, thanks to both the script and effective direction that make potentially banal scenes engaging and exciting. Each act is more riveting than the last as the protagonists chase clues with high- tech gadgetry and stomach-churning torture - a subject that the film has been criticised for, but in my opinion it comes with no pre-packaged bias. The audience is left to their own morals to decide if it was justifiable or not, again, applause to the director and writer for framing it this way.
The loose strings begin to tie together and our CIA heroine becomes set on chasing a "courier" whom she suspects works for Bin Laden, although she is beset by doubtful colleagues and sceptical higher-ups, she sticks to her gut instinct and becomes quite the celebrity as her hunch comes up smelling of roses.
In the third act, we finally witness the moment we've been waiting for; the raid. Personally - and many of you might baulk at the thought - I think it is one of the best action sequences ever captured on film. The scene where the Navy SEALs share small talk on their Black Hawk choppers is eerily reminiscent of scenes on the Sulaco in Aliens; both in style and content. A brilliant and unique score adds to the tension, and as the raid begins you expect an adrenaline-fueled stunts extravaganza - what you get is quite the opposite, but in many ways much more enjoyable. The entire sequence from start to finish is something like 30 minutes, and is every second is utterly engrossing. You will not be able to look away from the screen. I found myself sweating and elated alongside the soldiers as if I was with them myself.
There is a low body count and a lack of massive explosions and fireworks. Instead, we are indulged in an authentic experience with military realism to spare and enough tension to power a nail-biting factory. Die Hard this is not. Soldiers move slowly and ponderously as they clear each room of the dark and dank compound, encountering new obstacles along the way. When the climactic moment comes you will find yourself starry-eyed as the soldier who fires the killing shot, but somehow, the event is rather nondescript and the world of Zero Dark Thirty keeps turning long after Bin Laden's death.
Go and enjoy Zero Dark Thirty. Your knuckles will be white and your shirt may be soaked with perspiration, but the narrative will inspire.