Every once in a while, there comes a movie which makes you wonder before it begins whether what you are going to watch is really the way it all happened or is it just another exaggerated work of twisted fiction. ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ does not truly belong to that kind, neither does it display a true adaptation of the real story. At least it didn't seem so to me.
But keeping the controversies aside, this movie did pull in quite a large amount of viewers. When i booked tickets a few hours before the show, there were just a couple of rows occupied while the rest were empty and i thought they would remain so when we watch the show. We reached 10 minutes late (thanks to the wonderful parking facilities at the Hub which makes you feel like you are in a Maut ka Kua) and we entered the Audi with our cokes and stuff just to be greeted by a full occupancy. And then i Thought, Well Why not? The movie is based on the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted fugitive terrorist across the world, who in the name of Jihad killed thousands of innocent people and struck terror in the hearts of many, especially Americans. Everyone despised him, everyone prayed for him to die the worst possible death, he was on everybody’s ‘Wish to die List’. So, naturally, people would flock to see the real story behind his death and how did they actually terminate the greatest terrorist the world has ever come across in recent times.
To begin with, the movie did seem to have a steady pace and the plot thickened as the movie progressed. The torture of captured jihadis depicted in the beginning and the brutal nature of prison investigation conducted by the American soldiers in order to extract the truth out of them was quite justified bearing in mind the WTC attacks in 2001 that left a deep scar on the heart and mind of Americans and was not at all exaggerated but seemed understated considering the kind of conceivable torture the USA is capable of providing to their culprits.
The movie primarily revolves around a team of CIA agents who are sincerely working towards the capture of the Al Qaeda members and their leader Osama. The new recruit, Maya, played by a not so popular actress joins the CIA team in Pakistan for the mission and she seems reluctant to start with her job but she does get used to the kind of work she is supposed to do and gets increasingly obsessed with it as the movie plays on. I felt she played her role quite convincingly and the desperation with which she seeks the capture of Obama and her compulsive behavior towards getting her seniors to agree to her suggestions and getting things done her way is justified by her experiences during the mission which includes the death of one of her close CIA friends and her narrow escape while being present at the unfortunate Marriott hotel in Islamabad which was bombed by the Al Qaeda that left 50 people dead.
The rest of the movie just keeps the viewer waiting for the real catch and everyone waits with bated breath for the villain of the entire story to appear so that they finally get to know how he was killed. As that is what people would come to watch and it tends to make viewers a bit impatient since the story seems to have a nonessential drag at one point just to extend the plot a little and make it seem more dramatic.
The usual American way of doing things!
So after a lot of trial and error they finally come to the conclusion that Osama is hiding with his family at one of the houses in Abottabad which was surprisingly a mile away from the Pakistan Military Academy. They keep a watch for many months and then one day President Obama gives orders to the Armed forces to invade the house and terminate Osama.
The job is assigned to the U.S Navy Seals and they get ready to kill the Bad Guy. A team of heavily armed Seals fly in 2 Black Hawks and land in Osama’s compound and barge in with their fancy night vision binoculars and stuff. They track down each and every occupant in the house and kill all of them except the kids and start searching for Bin Laden. Then a funny thing happens. One of the Seals approaches a closed door through the corridor up the stairs and calls out the name ‘Osaaamaaa..’ in a rather sissy voice. It really seemed like a mother calling out to her kid knowing that he is hiding under the bed and it makes you laugh at the soldier’s stupidity. Anyways, so after all the commotion and chaos comes the moment of truth and climax when they break open the door and start shooting and before they could understand what they did, Osama is lying dead at their feet. A Seal tells the guy who unassumingly shoots Osama “Do u know what you have done?”. The soldiers confirm his identity with the weeping kids in the room and then gather the women and children who survive the operation and take them away. They search for all the Al Qaeda files and tapes and collect everything they could get their hands on and leave the place.
The body is brought to the base and Maya who spearheads the entire investigation and initiates the operation unzips the body bag and after confirming that it is truly Osama who lies dead in front of her, cries tears of joy and relief. They show her boarding a private U.S military plane to Washington DC to meet the President and the movie finally ends.
The movie does seem quite engaging in the first half, but the second half seems more like a drag. It is more of a documentary movie which they have tried turning into a commercial film so that they can profit from the Hype surrounding the Osama killing. Also, the end was a spoiler considering the excitement that the audience carries as the movie begins but the apparent disappointment on their faces as the movie comes to a conclusion. The killing of Osama as shown in the movie appears like what they call in cricket “a Soft dismissal” wherein you don’t know that the player is out until you realize after a few moments that he actually is.
The controversies still surround the Osama killing and they seem to make a few valid points and observations. Osama could have been captured alive as he was unarmed when he was killed and the only people left alive when they reached Osama were a few kids and women in the house and the soldiers had the exact information about the occupants. So, by gauging the number and identity of the people they already killed, they could have come to a conclusion that there would be no real threat thereafter when they go in search of Osama in the room where they found and killed him. Osama could not have attacked as he was on the verge of dying anyway, with failed kidneys and a severe heart condition. Further, the decision of the U.S government to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of Bin Laden’s death to the public makes the entire thing even more controversial and to add fuel to the controversy they claimed to take Bin Laden’s body directly to Afghanistan for identification and buried the body at sea within 24 hours of his death.
Whatever the controversies suggest, the movie was not really as good as I expected and fails to thrill you with the idea of killing a frail, old Osama who would have probably died a week later anyway if the Americans hadn't killed him. So in a way it seemed like they ended his misery and liberated his soul by killing him and did not really make him suffer the way they would have wanted to for his gruesome deeds.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
Comment : Watch a morning show if you must, not worth spending more than 80 bucks. The movie is real but kinda boring and could have been much better if only the real story was more exciting. Cannot blame the film-makers..
No comments:
Post a Comment