13 Hours: The Secret Hours of Benghazzi

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2016)

Michael Bay creates a real life, real feeling, and real emotional depiction of the night of September 11, 2012.
This film creates a lot of real world emotion and real world appreciation. Obviously, none of us knows exactly what happened the night of the attacks on Benghazi, but we do know the results of what happened that night. Michael Bay did a great job of creating emotion and connectivity between the audience and the characters.
Although the movie viewers may not have known many of the details of what was going on, it seemed as if you always knew what direction it was going. Although the movie was two and a half hours long, I didn't feel it was excessive in any way. It kept me engaged, but more importantly it allowed me to develop a strong relationship with the characters and truly care for them. These relationships becomes a more critical part of the film as it progresses toward the actual attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi. Without it, this would become just another war movie.
I feel that Bay put a lot of effort on this emotional aspect of the movie, knowing that it is based upon a true event. It was one of the most important to me, personally. With the reputation of Michael Bay, the action and explosions in this movie were nothing short of spectacular and didn't cease to fulfill expectations.
The movie portrayed the same anxiety you would feel if you were walking through the streets of Benghazi yourself. The action mixed with the emotional connection you have with the characters of the film allows you to feel appreciation for the experiences that the Navy Seals went through. Although the speed and development of this movie could be considered slow, it leads to a pretty long, dramatic and intense climax.
I would consider the climax of the movie from the moment that the attack begins on the Consulate all the way until the end of the movie. There are bits and pieces of adrenaline rushes in the beginning as they go about their business, but none of them compare to the real life action of the attack and defense.
I cannot accurately critique this movie without mentioning the amazing job that Michael Bay did in going about filming the most controversial military political topic in recent years. It could have been very easy for him, the actors, producers, etc. to put their own personal political views into the screen write. All in all, I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is curious about the real events happening in the world that we live in today. It is informative and I feel very accurate. I will never forget the silence in the full theater as the credits began to roll at the end of the movie. You could legitimately feel the respect and admiration everyone had for these men and all that they sacrificed.
The lessons that can be learned from this film are incredible. Forgetting yourself, forgetting who you are because there is something more important than you as an individual. The Seals didn't do these things so that they could receive medals, they did it for the sole reason that they could see their families again, which is the most important thing in this life.