Review of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) by Jonathan S — 06 Aug 2016

I think the reason I don't particularly care for war films is because they are by their very nature chaotic. They are filmed with fast cuts and numerous changes in perspective so as to capture the chaotic feeling of battle, and rarely maintain a true narrative flow. The cinematography of 13 Hours does this well enough, the action is choreographed brilliantly, and things become very confusing and raw as things escalate. This is what Michael Bay specializes in as his "in-the-moment" style keeps tensions high. 13 Hours is more a story of equal parts war story as well as one of survival. The weakest part of the film is probably the beginning wherein Bay attempts to establish "characters", but they are all more or less the same characters each and every one. It's the quiet moments that suffer most as well because it's not nearly as gripping as the action scenes. Now of course we need the quiet scenes to allow the audience a momentary reprieve to contemplate what has played out. They also further build character, but as we've established its so hard to differentiate them all from each other. Actually, for a film about conflict, there is surprisingly little dynamic between the characters. Lastly, can we please get someone who understands the technicals behind film lighting? For a film that takes place over the course of 13 hours, there seems to be an awful lot of night-day shifts.

Final thoughts: Not terrible. Raw and tense action scenes carry most of the film, but the human element just isn't there.