It isn't without redeeming qualities but the majority of the film is bland.

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2016)

Well, if there was ever a movie for Micheal Bay to direct outside of 'Transformers' it would be this one. It has everything that he could ever want. Explosions, buff guys, American Flags, and explosions. The only real difference between this movie and the 'Transformers' franchise is that this one lacks giant robots duking it out over who knows what. But don't be fooled, this movie isn't any more streamlined than any of his other works. At least the 'Transformers' knew that they didn't have any chance whatsoever in developing its characters. So they didn't care to try. And that is the first, and quite easily, the largest misstep that '13 Hours' makes. There just isn't anyone to cling onto to help get us through the film. Even the great John Krasinski, the charismatic mastermind behind Jim halpert struggles to find any foot hold with his character. Not one single character in this film feels different from one another. Each one is a roid raged, dislikable version of who they are suppose to be.
Each one is a family man with huge rippling muscles that are frequently put on display for us. And that's about it. Micheal Bay seems to have thought that putting an uncomfortable amount of man up on screen would make one forget that there wasn't anything that separated any of them. I could be wrong but....no I don't think I am actually.
The biggest problem isn't that these people don't feel like they actually exist but that the movie tries so hard to fake development. For a solid forty five minutes the film pushes a whole lot of nothing on its audience. We get line after line of nonsense with the occasional fake action to make you think something is happening.
But what whats actually happening is nothing. The more you look inward the more one realizes that the film has nothing to offer. The two and a half hour run time certainly doesn't help the films cause. It only helps to highlight even the slightest error. Of which, there are many.
But it wouldn't be receiving so much praise if there wasn't redeeming qualities. Surprisingly enough, the best quality the film possess is in it's action scenes. When the camera isn't shaking violently you can actually see that Bay isn't a bad director. He knows how to create an involving sequence. Bullets fly, blood is shed, and heartstrings are plucked at.
Another plus is the films sound editing. The sound is perfectly realistic and makes the intense action even more riveting. But I wish I could say I was impressed by more things. While, there is other minor positives nothing else is legitimately impressive. It's overlong, bloated, and devoid of any meaningful characters or messages. The action may be excellent but the film takes so crushingly long to get there that the majority of the experience is relatively bland.