13 HOURS is an exemplary true story war thriller set in Benghazi in 2012, where a number of US contractors working for the CIA found themselves under siege by an army of Libyan militants determined to destroy outside influence in their country in the aftermath of Colonel Gaddafi's demise. The film follows a siege scenario as various tough, trained figures attempt to defend two separate compounds from the murderous militants, and despite a lengthy running time this is never less than edge-of-the-seat great. The real surprise is that it was directed by Michael Bay and is far and away his best movie, head and shoulders above his usual bombastic flag-waving silliness. This goes for taught realism throughout and has some wonderful action set-pieces which utilise amazing sets, effects, and camerawork to put the viewer into the heart of pitched gun battles and the like. Intensity is the keyword here and as such the running time absolutely flies past. I can't recommend this enough; it's the best action-based modern-day military thriller I've seen since BLACK HAWK DOWN and is of a similar quality.

Jack Silva (John Krasinski) leaves his young family to join his friend Tyrone Woods (James Badge Dale) to work as security contractors for the CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya. Both are veterans of clandestine security and former SEAL instructors. It's the wild west awashed in weapons. CIA station chief Bob is dismissive and derisive of their security concerns. Ambassador Chris Stevens arrives to work out of a lightly defended compound. On Sept 11, 2012, tension is high. When the compound is attacked, Stevens and his men retreat to a safe room. Tyrone and his men go on a rescue mission despite Bob's "Stand Down" order.

I was concerned that this would be politically skewed one way or another. Either way would be bad. This movie mostly leaves that to the professionals. The initial American villain is the CIA station chief. This is more about these contractors and the confusion of the battlefield. The movie builds a wonderful world of threats. There is a reality to the paranoia and the first part is done very well. Most of the movie is actually after the compound takeover. Some of it blends into each other. It's hard to distinguish the players. There are loads of things getting blown up. I can accept the confusion because the actual situation was probably just as confusing. What this movie shows is the impossibility of distinguishing the good guys from the bad guys. It is the fog of war and mission impossible.

"13 Hours" or "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" is an American Oscar-nominated movie from 2016. The director is Michael Bay, which usually means style (especially special effects) over substance, but the fact that Chuck Hogan is the writer here and I quite enjoyed "The Town" gave me some hope. He adapted the book by Mitchell Zuckoff. But my hope was dashed relatively quickly. This is a war movie as generic as they come. I may be slightly biased as I am not only not a great Bay fan, but also military films are certainly far from my favorite genre, but as an Oscar nominee I still thought I'd give it a go, even if it is "only" in the sound category. It is set in Libya and plays pretty much in the now, not too long ago really, so an interest in current politics may help. Or it may hurt perhaps too as you will recognize the inaccuracies here. Cast includes not too many big names really, even lead actor Krasinski is not a star when it comes to the big screen.

Anyway, people who really enjoy army-based movies, even if the story is not really that good, may have an okay time with this one here. One of my main criticisms about this film, however, is that it never elaborates convincingly on the characters in a way where it would make sense to go all emotional at the very end, where we care enough about the characters and are touched by their actions and what happens to them. But this is also a criticism that is valid for several Michael Bay movies. It's perfectly fine he tries to come up with something memorable, but the quality and talent is not there and when the film then starts taking itself so seriously, then that is a huge problem that leaves a negative impact on the entire project really. But admittedly, it is not just Bay's fault, but you also have to blame the writers at least for the same amount. Besides, at considerably over 2 hours this movie also drags a lot. For me, it is definitely one of the weakest Oscar nominees from this year that I have seen so far. I give it a thumbs-down and only recommend it to those that I already mentioned previously.