13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Review

“All the Gods, All the Heavens, All the hells are within you”

Libya is free. A little too free for a stable country. Too many leaders/groups trying to take control of the city has led to Benghazi becoming one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Free arms including Rocket Launchers and Mortars are being sold in the open market without any kind of supervision or law enforcement. Every country has shut down its diplomatic offices except the United States of America. USA has one diplomatic office in Tripoli and a coveted CIA Base in Benghazi protected by a team of Private Military Contractors from Global Response Staff (GRS). The ambassador comes to Benghazi with plans of a peaceful liberal Libya but on September 11, 2012, the United States Diplomatic Outpost is attacked by Tangos and then begins the 13 hours of survival.

Being a Michael Bay movie, 13 Hours does not disappoint in the number of explosions. The action scenes are skilfully crafted. The script lacks at certain parts with many inefficient dialogues. The acting performances is down to average. There were some factual controversies that erupted during the movie like CIA Chief of Station asking the GRS Team to stand down and not rescue the ambassador during the attacks and the conditions of the lack of air support by the US Air Force. Also, it presents a partial narrative of the actual events. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed for the mess in this situation was not even once named or referred to in the movie. The movie tries to bring out the patriotism and the actual events during the crisis but in some ways, fails to do so. The action scenes are intense getting more and more intense by every passing frame. The struggle of the GRS Team to hold back militants coming in waves garner them the respect they were long overdue. 13 Hours is a good movie with some great action scenes and some compelling story telling.