Review of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) by Amadouiraklidis — 25 Oct 2022

Really not a good movie. Decent enough to pass the time. It's a classic Michael Bay movie that is able to entertain enough to make it worthwhile to finish the movie.

What the movie is bad at, though, is a laundry list. The dialogue was terrible, another movie falls victim to the director trying to make every character sound cool and just being a superficial douche after it. There are far too few, if any, likeable characters, largely because we get almost no proximity to any of them. Every scene that was used to develop the characters and their relations was split between all of the soldiers, making it cookie cutter and pointless. Also it was like everyone exclusively spoke in one liners. Finally, as someone who recently watched Black Hawk Down and still remembers Saving Private Ryan and a whole host of other war movies, this one fails at making the battles comprehensible, with a sense of seriousness, and timely. The defense and exfil of the ambassadors compound was nauseatingly confusing. None of the characters actions made sense due to the poor explanation of the layout of the compound and of the characters. Somehow, the 8 people in the compound were split up almost to the number, and no one protected themselves. Movie... just explain it! Have someone giving clear orders or use the drone for exposition by being monitored by AFRICOM or something. Establish the scene so there is meaning and I'm not just watching people run through bushes for half an hour and I still have no idea where they are going and for what purpose.

Anyways, I could go on, there was a lot wrong with the movie. In the end though, it's a military movie based on a true story which always bring a positive element, and it showed what the American government often tries to do in other countries (help support, develop, and maintain stability) along with the difficulties that entails, which is something I appreciate.