During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
Michael Bay is not known for serious fare although I did enjoy parts of his “Pearl Harbor” movie back in 2001. Some of his aerial sequences were breathtaking, it’s just a pity the rest of the movie didn’t live up to those standards. With “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” he has proved he is more than capable of handling mature topics and not just transformers and Will Smith. The film opened to mixed reviews and commercially it flopped and part of the reason is that people probably didn’t want to see a big screen adaptation of a time in US history where US soldiers overseas gave their lives for a cause when they didn’t have to. If the powers-that-be had done their jobs properly, few to no American lives would have been lost.
It is 2012 and Benghazi in Libya has become one of the most dangerous places on earth and any country that has an embassy stationed there has pulled out all of their employees. The United States still has a diplomatic compound on the outskirts of the city and less than a mile away is a CIA outpost called “The Annex,” which houses private military contractors. New to town is Jack Silva (John Krasinski), who meets up with his old friend Tyrone Woods (James Badge Dale), the commander in charge. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher) arrives in Benghazi to try and maintain diplomatic relations within the region and decides to stay at the compound with minimal protection from a small group of Diplomatic Security agents.
A few days later, on the evening of September 11th, a group of Ansar al-Sharia fanatics attacks the compound. Reaching out to the CIA outpost a mile away, Ambassador Chris Stevens and his head of security, Scott Wickland (David Giuntoli), inform them that they are trapped and plead for their help. Tyrone, Jack, and their men are ready to assist but they are ordered by Bob (David Costabile), the Benghazi CIA Chief-of-Station, to stand down, worried that the team’s engagement in the conflict will expose them and their operation. As the night progresses, Stevens and Wickland continue to reach out to the men until Tyrone has had enough and orders his men to their vehicles. Against Bob’s orders, the men defy him and make their way to the compound.
Upon reaching the compound, they locate Wickland, who tells them that he got separated from Ambassador Stevens inside the smoke-filled house. With the compound almost empty, they come under attack by small bands of militia but are able to keep them at bay. After a quick search of the premises come up empty for the Ambassador, Tyrone and his men make their way back to the annex but once inside its secured walls, they realize they were followed and come under attack from Ansar al-Sharia forces. Small at first, throughout the night, the attacks gradually begin to expand, with more militia joining the fight and as everyone waits for a rescue team to arrive from Tripoli, Tyrone, Jack, and his men must use everything in their arsenal if they are to survive the night.
The movie is based on the book of the same name by author Mitchell Zuckoff and concentrates on the CIA annex and the diplomatic compound, choosing to avoid the political controversy that surrounded the attacks themselves. Ambassador Stevens was later discovered by a group of Libyans who made their way inside the compound building. He was still alive, barely, and his body was transported to a local hospital where a doctor administered CPR for 90 minutes but died of asphyxiation from smoke inhalation.
Director Michael Bay does a commendable job in presenting the military contractors as everyday men that we can relate to, men who love their families but will drop everything at a moment’s notice to help a fellow comrade. Gone is Bay’s dizzying, flashy, nausea-inducing camerawork that he utilized so much in his “Transformers” movies and replaces it with straightforward tracking and Steadicam shots, camerawork that allows us, the audience, to actually see what is transpiring onscreen. While John Krasinski came into his own as a director and leading man in “A Quiet Place,” and successfully took over the mantle of Jack Ryan, here, he has a few quiet moments that show you just how impressive an actor he really is. At the end of the film, he tears up as he calls his wife to tell her he is coming home but his best friend is not. He then completely breaks down and you can’t help but empathize with him and share in his tears and heartache, knowing his friend’s family will never see him again.
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” is a welcome addition to Bay’s time-honored, bloated action extravaganzas, and shows that the man is more than capable of handling the smaller, more intimate moments that can sometimes make or break a film. Naturally, because of its subject matter, there are going to be detractors but as an account that has been verified by some of the men who were actually there, I highly recommend this movie based on that facet alone.
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