13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
A group of government hired security detail composed of elite U.S. soldiers responsible for protecting the C.I.A. in Libya is called in to action as the U.S. Ambassador is killed during an attack at his compound in Benghazi. This is the story of six men who stood up to protect Americans in need caught in a deadly war zone where the enemy looks just like a friend.
Directed by the master of explosion and all things that go boom in the night, Michael Bay, this rock em sock em good guys vs. bad guys ensemble piece mercilessly thumps its way through Libya for 2 hours and 24 minutes blasting John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, Dominic Fumusa, and Max Martini from one burning building to another bombed out rat’s nest. Intense in its show of force and firepower but almost zero sense of political understanding and context is brought to the table, and forced emotional sentimentality rings hollow; so, one thing is certain, we’re not getting smarter from this film, but we are getting an eyeful of boom, if you can accept that, and take the film for its apolitical approach and display of America’s finest in action, here’s your race horse. Maybe a matinee but really a rental 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is rated R.