"13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" (2016)

If you’re going in hoping to get more ammo for your political side, don’t bother. It’s directed by Michael Bay, so you get a very thin agenda. I counted a total of two moments. First was a 2 minute conversation about they’ve lost their faith in helping others…which actually plays more into anti-war than anything. The second was showing the aftermath of an attack from the assault leader (again, anti-war). The rest is an action movie. I’m surprised the dude hasn’t come out and said so. That this is FIRST and foremost a dumb action movie. More “Rio Bravo” than “Zero Dark Thiry.” The Libyans are the Indians. Also…they haven’t been this ridiculous since a VW van full were chasing Marty around in a DeLorean. That’s what me…as an American loves.

I kept wondering as I was watching it, if this were just some guy’s original action movie would it be as cool. Yes. Let me rephrase, fuck yeah. I love these type of holding the fort stories. Us against them. “Assault On Precinct 13” movies. This just so happens to have some real life elements that happened. Which, by the way, this isn’t the story of the fall of the Embassy in Benghazi and the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, it’s really about the second part of the evacuation of another C.I.A. compound that was secret and have secret dudes being secured by secrecy. Hence, they are the secret soldiers. You do have to wonder how a movie was made. It was because it was based on a book. By someone, now, supposedly working clandestinely.

I’m not going to explain the plot of the movie. Wikipedia and anti-Hillary Clinton people will give you that. What I will say is, forget the political angle when watching it. It’s really a solid old-fashioned action movie. Where people say corny heart tugging statements before the “Indians” scale the wall. Some parts are really remnants of “Pearl Harbor” American jingoism. I’m a sucker for that. If you aren’t…you’ll hate it.

I think as far as turning his style around, when it comes to super serious true stories, Bay doesn’t do a bad job. People just discount it immediately because it is the guy who made “Armageddon.” The rock music video days are pretty much over, so some scenes are going to feel dated. The rest is a great diversion away from our lives.