13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is an Action movie directed by Michael Bay. Starring James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Max Martini, Toby Stephens, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, Dominic Fumusa, Freddie Stroma, and Alexia Barlier. This movie takes place during the 2012 attack on the Benghazi American Embassy and the men who protected tried to protect it from the surrounding city.
Now right off the bat yes it is directed by Michael Bay and yes it does have his famous Michael Bay-isms (such as his use of the low angle camera or firework explosions), but it is a very good throwback to his original movies like the Rock. Not as good but he is getting there.
Going into this movie I was not expecting Oscar worthy acting but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the acting in this movie actually was. Many of the jokes did land and I actually felt for many of the characters.
The action sequences we top notch, the use of shaky cam was minimum. Only in a few early action sequences was it and issue but when the main meat of the event started happening the camera focused up and I could clearly tell what was going on.
I also like how they didn’t just portray the Libyan’s as these purely evil people. The movie showed us what happens after the battles and how tough it is for them. I many not agree with them in the slightest but it’s nice to have somewhat of both sides shown.
In terms of story line I actually read the novel this movie was based on and it followed the book fairly well. It might have been a bit slow in the beginning but once the $!#% hit the fan it picked up its pace and was relentless until the end of the movie.
All in all I felt like 13 Hours was a great return to form for Michael Bay. It’s not the Rock but its a start. If he can keep up with these types of movies hes on track to becoming a well received director in the future.
griffin gregory 