In My World Now

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

At the beginning of this year I released my most anticipated films of 2016 (here). Now we are half way through 2016 and I have seen five of the eleven movies on this list. Mainly because of time restraint because of couple of those films are not released until later this year, but out of the five that I have seen I have only been disappointed by only one (sorry Batman v Superman). Among those films on my list, there was a film that I would hope bring back the great memories of some of the best action films. Filled with some of the most engaging action scenes and a little bit of humor, Bad Boys and The Rock are just two of director Michael Bay’s (Transformers) best entries to his resume’. Of late the director has been swaying very far away from what made him popular, but this year Bay has gone back to his roots of pure action films with 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

The Story: 13 Hours tells the true story of events on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. Tyrannical dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been violently taken out of power and executed, which has sent the already volatile country into even more chaos. Among the anarchy of the capital city of Benghazi, a small classified CIA outpost is located in the heart of the city gathering intelligence. There to protect the CIA assists is a 6 man security team of ex-Navy SEALS and Army Rangers. In the early days of September 2012, U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens (Matt Letscher The Flash) arrives in Benghazi to help establish a new democratic government for the people of Libya. On the anniversary of September 11^th, the ambassador and his 3 man security detail were attacked by a large group of insurgents, burning the whole U.S. compound. Less than a mile away from the ambassador’s compound is the classified CIA base with a chief refusing to release his men to help in fear of revealing that the CIA has presence in Benghazi. The six men soon band together and throw politics to the wind to help save the ambassador and his men.

The Good: As I hoped for, 13 Hours is a nice trip down Michael Bay memory lane. Bay has given us another notable action film with intense action, sprinkled with a touch of humor. I really enjoyed Bay getting back to a hard-nosed action film with as little special effects as possible. I think Bay somehow assumes he can create this huge budgeted films loaded with special effects and still be considered a good director. Bay needs to stick to these types of films; his bread and butter. I was also really impressed with the cast, most particularly John Krasinski (The Office) who plays former SEAL Jack Da Silva. Mainly known for his comedic role has Jim Halpert, yet here he is a rough and gritty action hero. Kransinski’s transformation into this hero was very encouraging since he just signed to become the new Jack Ryan, hero of author Tom Clancy’s novels, in Amazon’s new spy series. As said, the action was extreme and gripping which made the 2 hour and 15 minute runtime fly by quite quickly.

The Bad: There is only one main aspect of this film that I can complain about and I feel partially bad about this because it really isn’t anyone’s fault. The comparisons to Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down are going to be unavoidable to anyone that sees both films. Both films based on true stories of the heroics of a group of men in a very unstable country that many Americans felt we had no business being there. The only thing I can pin on Bay is the fact that he takes a lot of filming aspects of Scott’s film. There are just a few aspects of 13 Hours that just seem like more of a nod to Scott’s war film, than original thought from Bay. There is just no denying the comparisons between the two films and I wish that I could somehow brush all of those aside, but the similarities in the situations are insurmountable.

The Verdict: If you can get over the parallels of 13 Hours and Black Hawk Down, then this film will be very enjoyable for you action fans. Bay gives audiences a whiff of what made him great of the 90s action scene and I hope that he sticks to these films instead of the intolerable Transformers films (as I am writing this I am shaking my head in shame because he just started filming another Transformers film). Oh well, it doesn’t hurt to dream right? 13 Hours is an enthralling action film that showcases true heroes and the courage they had to spit at authority and do what they felt was right.

Worth Your Time.