Fantastic Film and One of Michael Bay's Best

Rating: 9/10 (17 January 2016)

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this movie when I saw the trailers for the first time. The film looked great but I was worried as soon as I saw the name Michael Bay. I won't go into it right now but his recent filmography has left me disappointed and a little uneasy whenever I see his name in the credits. Fortunately, this movie reminded me that Bay can still make good films as long as the words turtles or transformers aren't in the title. This is not only an excellent action movie but it really brings the drama as well. Let's get to the story.
This film is based off of the true story of the attack on the U.S. embassy and a CIA compound in Benghazi in the months following the fall of Gadhafi. The action mostly focuses around the six men that make up the security force for the CIA outpost and the crap they had to go through in order to not only try and save the US Ambassador but also defend their own base long enough for backup to arrive and get them out of there. Easier said than done.
The cast for this film aren't exactly big names or anything like that but they all do an excellent job regardless. This might sound a little strange but I prefer lesser known actors for these types of movies. It feels like the story can be a little less biased since it doesn't have to constantly follow the highest paid actor or actress. The closest thing to a main character this film has is John Krasinksi's character Jack Silva. Silva is a skilled ex-soldier that goes to Libya for the money but ends up regretting his decision because of how much he misses his family. Krasinski does the character justice by showing us the no nonsense attitude without going to far into corny badass soldier. That's one thing I have to give the film credit for. Everyone comes off genuine rather than unbeatable Rambos. I also really enjoyed the interactions between Rone played by James Badge Dale and David Costabile's character Bob. They both want the best for the people they're trying to protect but they go about it in completely different ways. Rone is more straightforward and quick to come to a decision while Bob is more contemplative but slow to adapt to changing circumstances.
I enjoyed the different perspectives of command that we see through Rone and Bob and it's obvious that the movie shows us that Rone is the better leader but this kind of takes us into the territory of how one sided this narrative is. I mean, we see the narrative from multiple perspectives but the CIA is depicted as surprisingly ignorant to the situation they find themselves in. Now I don't know much about the history of this actual event but it surprises me that the CIA wouldn't have been able to figure this out a little sooner. Who knows, maybe this story is actually incredibly accurate but it does seem a little lopsided in favor of the security team.
The action is really well done in this movie and doesn't come off as too romanticized. Everything is gritty and fast-paced and you have to focus to keep up with the action. I'm usually not a fan of shaky cam but I always seem to accept it a bit easier in these types of movies. These events actually did happen and it feels more genuine, like we're actually there with them while all this craziness is going on. Even so, I wouldn't have enjoyed the shaky cam if I couldn't understand what was going on but I had absolutely no trouble keeping up with the action.
I really don't have any complaints to make other than the one sided nature of the narrative but that's honestly minor and didn't keep me from enjoying the film. I'm going to go ahead and avoid the more political discussion surrounding the movie since I don't believe this is the kind of place to bring that up but I do believe the narrative brings up some interesting questions about how our government should support our people abroad and the roles they should play in these countries. Anyway, the movie's great and I wholeheartedly recommend it.