A splendidly shot yet hollow and soulless film

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2013)

Let me begin by saying the positive side of things - the pacing is really good, occasional scenes and the finale are very intense and the film is overall very well shot. That being said, it is a soulless hollow film based on unforgettable true events which could have been handled with absolute care and precision in characterisation and storytelling yet still providing the thrills and entertainment, like Argo. This film has no hugely interesting characters, the acting is nothing above average, I don't see how Jessica Chastain staring into space, being very frustrated, angry and saying ''motherfucker'' a lot means fantastic acting. The only actors who did a good job were the Middle Eastern ones and they usually ended up being on screen for a short while or just get tortured. James Gandolfini stood out for me despite his short time on screen and not because of how greatly interesting his character was, just because he will always be the unforgettable Tony Soprano. So moving on from characterisation, the film shows many events throughout the past 10 years leading up to Bin Laden's capture. These were very well shot yet failed to provide any huge deal of suspense, grit or excitement (aside from the occasional short scene) and in general the storytelling or screenplay had nothing impressive to show. To say I love The Hurt Locker a great deal but I hope this doesn't win any Oscars for Bigelow although I can see it probably will because the Academy can't wait to get their hands all over this American political propaganda of a film and its re-telling of what could have spawned one of the most intelligently done thrillers of at least the past five years. Having said all this the excellent manner in which it was shot, the few thrilling scenes/good finale and its pacing still allows me to give the film some respect.