13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is an action thriller based on the 2014 non-fiction book written by journalist Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team. The film depicts the harrowing true story of the attack on a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, which killed four Americans. After the assault begins, a U.S. Special Ops team are sent to the annex to protect those still trapped within the compound. Directed by Michael Bay, the film stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, and Pablo Schreiber. ~ Tom Ciampoli, Rovi
Director: Michael
Bay
Cast: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale,
Max Martini, Toby Stephens
Release Date: Jan
15, 2016
Rated R for strong combat violence throughout, bloody
images, and language.
Runtime: 2 hr. 24 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Suspense/Thriller
Review:
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a
surprisingly mature and somewhat restrained effort from bombastic director Michael
Bay. It still has many of the hallmarks of most of
Bay’s work but it’s not as garish as it’s been in his most recent films. Bay doesn’t take any time before he throws
the audience into a series of well choreographed action sequences which make up
the better part of the films runtime.
The characters don’t get nearly as much time as they deserve to get
properly fleshed out and what little characterization there is falls into some
well worn clichés. It’s a shame Bay
didn’t spend more time with some of these characters because John Krasinski and
James Badge Dale are game with their performances. You get the feeling that if they had a bit
more to work with we might have had something more meaningful. As it is Bay gives us a solid auctioneer that
feels like a modern day Alamo on more than a few
occasion. It’s a tad overlong and some
clunky dialogue hampers some of the slower sections. Even though it’s an imperfect film it still
qualifies as one of Michael Bay’s
best films in recent memory.
B-
