Kathryn Bigelow's follow-up to The Hurt Locker is a movie that I have been keeping a close eye on for as long as I can remember.

The first time I heard of this film it was under the working title of Kill Bin Laden, however due to the event of his death this movies ending had to be completely altered for obvious reasons, which ultimately shifted it into a whole new territory and despite the touchy subject matter that will obviously be deemed as 'propaganda' by a fair few, Zero Dark Thirty is film worthy of every award it receives.

The film is essentially a chronicle of the decade long man-hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.

Admittedly the military and Bin Laden are not subjects I know much about. Obviously I am aware of all the obvious facts and putting all conspiracy theories aside I'm sure you'll agree upon watching this film, could it have been done any better? Personally I think not.

The film features many familiar faces including the likes of Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke as well as James Gandolfini however as you can expect Jessica Chastain is responsible for providing the definitive performance of this film. I can certainly say all the hype is true; Chastain delivers an exceptional performance in this film. Originally I thought Jennifer Lawrence was a shoe-in to win best actress, however after seeing this she's certainly got some tough competition on her hands. In terms of acting I honestly can't fault this film. In my eyes it doesn't do anything wrong in the slightest when it comes to this field.

Rather upsettingly I have heard numerous complaints from various members of the public citing this film as boring, yet I heard exactly the same thing about Spielberg's Lincoln. Personally I think these reports are absolutely tripe as the two are very insightful films that both handle their specific subject matters very professionally. But getting to Zero Dark Thirty not only is this film a riveting watch I really do have to acknowledge the overall craft that has gone into it. The score is really good and the cinematography is fantastic. It's safe to say a lot of work as well as research has gone into this film and deservedly so as it has certainly payed off.

To me the definitive part of this film that completely blew me out of the water was the raid scene. The sheer tension of it was brilliant and whilst I was obviously aware of how it was all going to end that didn't prevent me from being on the edge of my seat the whole time. It's just so well done and I know I keep repeating that but it honestly is. Despite being the best part of 150 minutes long, to me it just seemed to fly past and that's because of how good this film is. It's expertly written, directed and acted resulting in what will certainly be one of 2013's best films.

9/10

Release Date: 25th January 2013 (UK)