Mini Film Review – 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi

Yesterday I watched 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi; and it was ok! Directed by Michael Bay, and starring John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, and James Badge Dale; 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, is an action thriller based on the book 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff; which tells the true story of the 2012 Benghazi Attack. The film is kind of hard to read, as it’s very blurry and unfocussed. It would help if there was a bit more clarity as to why the events are happening, but there is no explanation, nor is one ever revealed. So, it doesn’t read like a film plot, more just like a random battle event. This lack of clarity causes the film to stall at the lights, and whilst it tries to weave in some human drama, it just doesn’t really go anywhere. The film is also lacking star power. Some star power would really help the audience to be able to attach a name to a character, and give them something to root for. All the heroes pretty much just look the same, with their facial hair hiding features to help tell them apart. If there was a star to focus in on, it might help; but the closest we get to that are in the form of Toby Stephens, and Max Martini (Not complaining, Max Martini is a very underrated and underutilized actor, he should be in more big blockbusters). For most of the early parts of the film, the action and battle sequences are just blurry and confusing, but once they focus on the compound, it greatly improves, and the battles plus the odd moments of socializing are a nice break in the middle of all the chaos. It has it’s moments, and it is sort of worth sticking around for, but be prepared to be lost for a large amount of time!