Intense, riveting film inspired by true events and tragedy

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2016)

With January being the month of some of the biggest box office (and critical) slackers of the year, many would not expect to see high- budgeted movies; especially ones brought by Michael Bay who's films are often subject for summer releases. However, instead of a two and a half-hour stretch of giant robots fighting head to head, Michael Bay takes a more mature direction in epic war adaption to Mitchell Zuckoff's novel based on the harrowing events on September 11, 2012, the night when the U.S compound in Benghazi, Libya was unexpectedly attacked by Islamic forces, which resulted in the death of the American Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens (played by Matt Letscher) and two CIA contractors; an event that made national headlines. Actors James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Max Martini, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, and Dominic Fumusa hit the screen as the six members of the security team who set out to defend the compound against the Islamic militants. What the results is an intense, powerful, and thought-provoking war flick that raises many questions.
This marks Michael Bay's third attempt at adapting a true-life event to the screen, with the being 'Pearl Harbor' and the second being 'Pain & Gain'; none of which come anywhere close to this solid attempt. This film paints a loud, but engrossing portrayal of the tragedy that occurred that night and the atrocity these soldiers went through, while steering away from the political territory; so there is no mentions of any political figures. Featuring extended scenes of loud, brutal combat with relentless gunfire, and of course abundance of explosions, the movie delivers a pack-punching depiction of soldiers' effort in active combat, to the point where you feel like you are the midst of the all the chaos; and these scenes are done not in a mindless, over-the-top way that Bay is often known for, but in a serious and authentic manner to make viewers feel the anguish of the characters. These scenes are shot on a nicely built set in Malta, which serves as a solid backdrop of Benghazi, Libya. The characters however, come as the film's weakness, with the character development falling short within the first hour. There is not much we learn about the characters other than them being as husbands and fathers, as shown with them having video chats with their families back at home. While the actors' performances stand strong, they're not quite enough to fully sustain their characters.
13 Hours is an intense, powerful movie that brings out the best of Michael Bay. It is a film that not only sparkles with a strong direction, realistic depiction of the horrors of war, but also pays a well tribute to the soldiers out there who are sacrificing their lives to defend the freedom of our country. It also shows that Michael Bay is capable of making decent films over some of the flops he's made in the last several years.