Review: '13 Hours' Excites Without the Politics
Neil R. Feeney ’19 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Well, fear no longer. 13 Hours indeed is fun and puts the audience smack in the middle of the action, as Bay is known to do, but the story and the soldiers are the main focus of the film. The characters feel real and have dimensions, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the story rushes along at a brisk pace. The acting was good, led by a gruff John Krasinski, in a completely different role than on The Office. He handles the so-called “Bayhem” well, and honestly delivers the best army role since Bradley Cooper in American Sniper. And Although that film achieved plenty of box office success and garnered Academy Award recognition, it drew lots of criticism for being unrealistic, too contrived, and being over-propagandist. To be fair, it did feel very “Hollywood”, and that’s coming from a director like Clint Eastwood. 13 Hours, however, feels very real and involved, caring more about honoring these soldiers than telling a classic storyline. After a while, the audience really starts to care for these characters, and the film benefits from only having a few main men to care about. They feel raw and vulnerable, rather than the typical indestructible action heroes, they are real men with real wounds who must face the real possibility of death. This gives the film an extra edge, one that certainly helps immersion.
This movie was never going to be the next The Hurt Locker, but it accomplished what it was supposed to: reveal and honor the brave men that protected the American buildings in a very dangerous area. Politics are all but completely shoved aside, and all that matters is the bravery shown. Michael Bay certainly delivers on the action and the explosions. As all directors do, he has evolved over the years, and this film is arguably his best contribution to cinema thus far. It works well to shed light onto the real men and bravery behind the Benghazi tragedy, albeit with some story issues. It’s exciting, sincere, and feels real, which is all an audience can ask from a true war story.
Grade: B
Watch The Trailer: [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MBjAN7jqsQ[/embedyt]
Those Benghazi families are lying. Hillary is telling the truth, as always. And Obama really did kill Bin Laden. Just like he killed all of those student nurses.