A Brilliant Ending But Uneven Beginning

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2019)

23 February 2013. The very beginning black screen of the movie with only the audio 911 calls seemed to be, understandably chaotic, but in the directorial use of such audio chaos, it also provoked unnecessary confusion and detachment from the more reflective emotional aftershock of the event. Oddly enough the physical violence of the interrogation scenes were tame compared to the fictional violence of most action, adventure thrillers such as Daniel Craig's brutal beating in Skyfall (2012) and even such actions as urinating on the detainees which was widely reported by the news media at the time were omitted. Jessica Chastain's character was also uncharacteristically stereotypical during the early torture scenes with the requisite facial expressions of supposedly suppressed disgust. Her character throughout the movie was underdeveloped with no backstory, not significant revelation of her attitude, motivation except implicit hatred and revenge. There is the bus explosion which is also oddly inconsistently muted and only indirectly shot. All these minor flaws only contribute to any uneven flow and tempo of most the movie until the final insurgent sequences. By the end, there are two shots, one an editing flow problem where one moment the American insurgent team or on the ground and then suddenly in the air and finally Chastain's character is asked where she'd like to go with no response and no shot of the airman who asked the question before the fade out.
Comparatively speaking, the ending and climax of the movie is technically similar to the amazing, ground breaking beginning sequence of Saving Private Ryan (1998) and has some of the visceral compelling intensity of Black Hawk Down (2001). Yet in some ways, most of the the cinematography isn't quite as densely raw and rich as United 93 (2006), Body of Lies (2008), or Munich (2005). As discussed, the movie is also missing the rich depth of the humanity of the characters as portrayed in Breach (2007), Jarhead (2005), Manhunter (1986), and even Apocalypse Now (1979) or the balanced depiction of the characters on both sides of this military conflicts as better presented in Green Zone (2010) which also had several strong military action scenes. As for Argo (2012), Zero Dark Thirty's contemporary movie, Argo was more consistent, more emotionally riveting, and had more connective depth. If only Kathryn Bigelow as a director has been able to learn from director Sidney Lumet's fine black and white gripping and tense focus in Fail-Safe (1964) what could have this movie become.