Rank: 1.5/5
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” tells the story of the terrorist attack on the American diplomatic compound on Sept. 11, 2012. The main focus is on six members of the security team who defended the compound during the attack.
This is an incredibly important story. Unfortunately, “13 Hours” is not the film this story deserves.
Other than the subtitles at the beginning and end of the film, politics is surprisingly left out. But putting politics to the side could give this story potential to solely focus on the event and characters involved. However, having director Michael Bay at the helm is worrisome because the film needs to strongly develop “The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”.
Bay is popular for his blockbuster action films such as the “Transformers” franchise and “The Island.” He is known to make epic films that idle on the action and leave a lot to be desired when it comes to characters.
Bay’s main problem is subtlety.
The film opens with a two soldiers — Oz, played by Max Martin,i and Jack, played by John Krasinski — talking about their children back home who are growing up while they are in war. It is rather lazy to give us two characters stating why we should care about them. It doesn’t make us feel their sacrifice because it is so blatantly delivered.
Every scene that is meant to deepen our engagement with a character is played at this level becasue Bay treats character development as a chore. As if we are to say, “OK, they said why we are supposed to care so we do. Moving on.”
Since there is no subtlety in the characters, there is a thick line drawn between good and evil. This convention would work in a “Transformers” movie, but in a true story, it comes across as careless. The Americans are the good guys and everyone else is evil. This means that every Muslim, even the innocent, are viewed as enemies or inferior.
“They are all bad guys, until they aren’t,” said one soldier.
It makes the film feel more like a flag waving recruitment video than a dramatic story. Concluding the film with subtitles about how the Muslim community disassociated itself with the attackers is hardly enough to excuse the whitewashing racism throughout the film.
Bay’s films are not an overall crowd pleaser. When he makes lengthy movies about robots hitting each other, it’s obvious they are fictional blockbusters that exist to rack in the dollars. However, when he applies his aesthetic to important true stories, it is no longer something you can just move past.
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” is a disrespectful retelling of a tragic event that deserves better.