"It ain't over till it's over."

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2016)

'13 Hours' is another (non-robot) Michael Bay film, which tells the true events about the contracted soldiers which defended a US compound on September 11th 2012. Does it deliver as well as it should? And was justice done in the retelling of this true story?
1. Just going on the premise of watching this as a movie with no factual attachments, '13 Hours' is indeed a really good film. However, if you're going into this as being just another "balls-to- the-wall' action flick, you'd be wrong. The best advantage of this film is that it's more of a suspenseful thriller when it comes down to it. From the beginning, we get small doses of the job that these men undertake on a daily basis when it comes to defending their country's interests. We also see just how dangerous of a 'fail- state' Libya is, and the paranoia that your life can be at risk any moment really churns your stomach.
2. The casting was terrific, and I believe this is James Badge Dale's (Rone) movie to carry. He has the most charisma and physicality in part of his acting, and you can't help but like his character. I honestly thought it was a mistake to make John Krasinski (Silva) the "poster-boy" of this film. I say that due to the fact that he plays the average'man with no special qualities to him other than the fact that he has a family he wants to return to. Not saying he's bad, but he only gets one heartbreaking moment at the very end where we finally see him shine as an actor. I like Krasinski, but like I said, Dale is the better bet.
3. I know many critics condemn Michael Bay based on the 'Transformers' films, but people really need to let that go, cause Bay works extremely well when he's directing a non sci-fi movie. Bay is also overly known for being an action director, but this film is probably his least action-filled movie to date. Not saying that's a bad thing, but throughout the film we only get small doses of action. I'm sure the script writers adapted the events as accurately as they could, but I think this movie really needed an extended and edgy climatic action sequence. However, that's just my personal opinion overall if I had to nit-pick lol.
I was hoping that this film would be just as or even more gripping than a similar one like 'Lone Survivor', but it does simply an "okay" job non-the-less. I'd say this is up there with Michael Bay's better films, and I would heavily recommend it.