Time and the finite nature of it is an essential ingredient in all suspense films. So I need to get myself on the clock when it comes to Zero Dark Thirty. I was shocked at how quickly we knew of its existence post Hurt Locker but then... it never seemed to come. It still feels like something off in the very distant future set in the very recent past. But it actually opens in 66 days. Tick tock.
Let's break down the trailer...
YES
- At the very least it'll make an interesting comparison point to Showtime's "Homeland".
- Jessica Chastain gets her first high profile lead role!
- Joel Edgerton
- That hot soldier with the glow stick
- I've been with director Kathryn Bigelow since Near Dark and I'm not going anywhere. I tend to love her work. And even when I don't, it's interesting.
- It looks far more beautiful, visually, than The Hurt Locker... which wasn't really going for beauty but there's so many frameable stills in the trailer and a rangier color palette. In short: I'm glad it's not Hurt Locker 2. As much as I love The Hurt Locker it requires no sequel.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
- Very strong trailer structurally with the threatening implied two hander opening scene and the open-ended group cliffhanger with night vision. We know how the mission turns out of course but the details... the details. This is what trailers should do: suggest, tease, leave you wanting more.
NO
- The Hurt Locker did a fine job of being non-partisan. It had plenty to say about war as a drug -- which I'd argue is a right wing problem -- but it wasn't pointing any fingers or explicit about politics in anyway. Can this film tread that line as well? All the flags in this trailer worry me.
- I don't relish people complaining that Jessica Chastain < Claire Danes on "Homeland" but you know that simplistic comparison is coming based simply on Smart Woman + Terrorists + Theories . TV and Movies have different strengths and the best TV shows have a lot more time to develop their central characters.
MAYBE SO
- Given that we know the ending how exciting will the climactic Bin Laden attack be? And can Bigelow make it exciting without indulging in the war as drug audience bloodthirst problem.
- The opening scene is chilling but you never know the way these things play out. So many American movies and television series seem to implicitly condone torture and I sure hope that isn't the case here. Bigelow is better than that! I hope.
Are you a Yes No or Maybe So? And how much of your answer is based on your feelings about The Hurt Locker?