The *killer eyes* of the Horse Soldiers

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2018)

In 12 Strong you follow the journey of 12 US soldiers, mostly their captain named Mitch Nelson (Hemsworth). A man who has never been to war, however that doesn't stop him to go headstrong to the battlefield. His men follow him with no hesitation, and they are good at firing a couple of jokes at times, considering where they are and what they are doing. This makes the movie nicer, as you can see how humor help loosening the mood up a bit.
Nelson has to work together with the Afghan General Dostum (Negahban), who isn't very good at cooperating. However one thing is sure, Dostum wants to take down the Taliban and he needs the help of the US army, as he doesn't have enough firearms on his own.
The movie has a nice pace to it, as it starts out showing us the different soldiers, their reaction to the 9/11 attack, but also their wifes/families, who all have a different way to send off their men. When they get to Afghanistan it's Nelsons' job to convince his superiors that his team is ready to be sent out there. Luckily Nelson is an intelligent man who knows how to speak his mind and case.
Nelsons' first meeting with Dostum isn't the best, and because Nelson doesn't have those *Killer eyes*, as Dostum so nicely puts it, the trust takes a long time to build.
At the same that all of this is happening you get small glimpses of some of the things that the Taliban is doing, shown in the scenes with Razzan (Acar), someone who seems like the leader of one of the Taliban groups, and one with whom Dostum has a big grudge against.
12 Strong is one of Fuglsig first movies, and he has done a good job. The images are very beautiful at times, and the explosions are quite realistic. I really like the casting too - and not just because of Hemsworth, even though he does make up most of the film - and characters such as Diller (Peña) the comedic one, and Spencer (Shannon) Nelsons' right-hand man are very important to the building of the story and characters, but also to lighten the mood.
All in all I really liked this movie, and it's crazy to think that it's taking from a real story. Quite impressing.