Review of The Secret Scripture (2017) by Schroederrock — 30 May 2016

Wow. What a surprise. Michael Bay has been on my sh*t list for years after delivering a lot of trash in the form of Transformers sequels and TMNT. 13 Hours is a return to credibility. The cast is spot-on throughout - every character feels genuine but not overpolished or obviously rehearsed.

The action is incredible - the fighting is much more immersive and never felt gratuitous, though I'm sure there were some artistic liberties taken. It's impressive for Michael Bay who hasn't had to exercise much restraint in the visuals department nor has he focused on the actors themselves.

The story is pretty straight forward, though it's not entirely obvious at first. 13 Hours' early progression is a little jumbled but, after a few scenes, you start to get what's going on and what the big problem is.

I will applaud the studio for keeping a lot of the real-world politics out of this. Pretty much everyone knows whose fault this event is (it is based on a very true story and is at least mostly accurate) and while there is a lot of shame and blame to be put on those people, this movie focuses on being a good movie and not pointing the finger to anyone specific.

Even though I didn't have high expectations to begin with, because it IS Michael Bay work after all, I still found 13 Hours to be a better-than-average military-like action movie that paints a picture of extreme heroism in during events that had huge odds stacked against those sticking their neck out for the defenseless.

What a story.