The story is set in Post-Mandela South Africa, with blacks and whites working side by side as both criminals and cops. The central mystery is the solution of a mysterious drug that hits the shack lined streets of the poor black neighborhoods who have seen little change in their poverty with the onset of the "rainbow nation", plus the mysterious disappearance of young black pre-teen boys. There is only violence as a solution; between criminals, between conflicting police officers and a vicious and extremely equal battle between good and evil.
Orlando Bloom does "edgie" as well as Colin Farrell, and that's saying a lot. He's a callous ladies man who contrasts nicely with Forest Whitakers mysterious sexuality. Bloom's character is a lost soul seeking redemption. Forest Whitaker is almost saintly in his forgiveness of the terrible wrongs done to him in childhood (shown in horrifying flashback). Both characters change, grow, suffer and adapt. There are excellent female roles; Forest Whitakers black mom, Orlando Blooms ex-wife who can't completely give up on him, an ambitious black geek detective who earns her place in a man's world by ingenious computer detective work, and a taunting stripper who captures Forest Whitakers attention. There are even excellent female supporting roles; a casual witness who uses Orlando Bloom for sex and not the other way around, and one of the nastiest female villains to ever point an assault rifle. Even secondary villains and police are memorable This is not a formula movie, where you know everything that will happen in the first 10 minutes. It's an intelligent action movie that keeps you guessing until the very end. You can watch Zulu several times, and continually catch more and more minute plot twists, amazing scenes depicting the beauty and squalor of South Africa and the importance of walk on characters that contribute to the depth of the movie. It just keeps getting better and better.
