Review of The Secret Scripture (2017) by Bfoore90 — 10 Jun 2016

Normally I would consider this film conservative propaganda but this Michael Bay passion project does a good job of playing both sides of the coin, a feat at which American Sniper did not do and it goes to great lengths (while not naming any names) to making Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and all involved in the Benghazi disaster look really really bad.

As an avid, Bernie Sanders supporter normally I lavish at anything that makes Hillary Clinton look bad which this film, in the end does a pretty decent job of doing. In the past, I've been especially critical of Michael Bay and his work (I hated Pain and Gain and I shudder at the sight of his Transformer movies) but Bay here leaves all the bullcrap at the door for some solidly developed characters in a really bad situation.

While the story is predictably as hollow as you would come to expect in a Michael Bay movie as the story hits all the same rhythms as every real life war movies that have come before it with a history lesson with text in the beginning, small periods showing unrest in a foreign land, diplomacy falling, climax, and the resolution of said climax.

Bay keeps his attention soley on the people involved from the natives to the soldiers to the families while unlike in previous bay movies he leaves the character development at the door and brings the action, shaky cams, cuts, and explosions full throttle.

Overall, I feel like Michael Bay did a decent job here. It still suffers from his bad dialogue, useless emphasis on mind blowing explosions and fire fight.