Sadly it's just a perfectly serviceable action movie

Rating: 6/10 (14 October 2018)

12 Strong
Let's be honest, we aren't short of war movies.
The genre is over stocked.
Some of these movies have reached the dizzy heights of greatness but there's been some stinkers too!
12 Strong leans more to the good.
History books are full of stories to tell and the story of the twelve soldiers who where the first deployed into Afghanistan after 9/11 is certainly one worth telling.
Led by a new captain played by Chris Hemsworth his special forces team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
Nicolai Fuglsig's film tells an important story but does so with no real vigour.
Don't get me wrong this is by no means a bad or boring film, it just never really ignites into anything special.
It's a perfectly serviceable war movie but I got the feeling that the story of these twelve heroes was never done justice.
In parts 12 Strong is slow and cumbersome.
When the action does kick in it is done effectively and with a level of skill.
Ariel shots are sublime.
The dropping of bombs is both destructive yet beautiful at the same time because the cinematography is so captivating. The use of colour is sparsely splashed across the screen to give the entire picture a look of desolation.
Sound is also very good as it should be. This is a war movie. We need the bangs!
Essentially that's the problem with 12 Strong. We get the bangs for our buck but there's not enough character development for me to care about these men.
Of course I do, but apart from Hemsworth's character there's not enough insight invested into the rest of the team.
This is where this film should have shone.
Unlike say Dunkirk which was criticised for its lack of character development, but that film was more of a running commentary. We the audience was thrown into the action with soldiers in Nolan's film. There was no time for pleasantries. It was a duck and cover movie.
12 Strong wants you to get to know it's characters and spends a lethargic first act skipping over the subject offering us not enough insight.
Instead 12 Strong becomes a fairly enjoyable action movie that has grounded and believable action.
This is no Rambo First Blood Part II.
You do get the sense that these men are in real danger, they're not larger than life superheroes. They're real people fighting a very real war.
I can recommend this movie. It's a film that has its highs and lows. Sadly the highs are the action scenes and not the development of its real heroes.
Sadly this is why unlike great movies such as Saving Private Ryan it won't stay in the memory banks for very long.