Gives the Truth to the Audience and Lets Us Gather Our Own Opinions

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2016)

13 Hours is directed by Michael Bay and stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, and Dominic Fumusa. The story follows a terrorist attack enacted upon an American embassy in Libya, called Benghazi. When Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security were under attack, all soldiers were told to stand down. However, a handful of men went to lend aid, despite what their superiors told them.
To get it out of the way, this film barely touches the political issues behind the film's story, and that was a good move. What 13 Hours does is takes the exact truth of what happened in the terrorist attack, and sets it on the audience's lap, leaving them to form their own opinions upon the topic. This aspect of the film adds a layer to it that isn't too politically preachy, as many feared this film would be.
As far as Michael Bay movies go, 13 Hours is amazing. Not that Michael Bay is a terrible director, he just doesn't have the best filmography under his belt. However, he's created a few good films in the past, such as Transformers (just the first one), or the 1998 blockbuster, Armageddon. I don't hate the guy, because I believe that he truly tries to make quality content, he just doesn't always succeed. Despite his issues in the past, he did a really good job with 13 Hours. I enjoyed it, and appreciated almost every aspect of it.
While on the topic of Mr. Bay, his direction was great. The only issue I took with the camera work was very small, and that was just the over abundance of slow motion shots throughout. All of the slow motion was done well, but it was used just a little too much. Other than that, however, I had absolutely no problems with any work that Michael Bay did on the film. The direction was perfectly fine, and it worked very well for what the film was wanting to achieve.
The best thing about 13 Hours is the acting, and all of the talented actors working on the project. In specific, John Krasinski delivers one of his best performances to date, leading the film brilliantly. All other actors do good as well. Although I wouldn't use the word "outshine," I feel that John Krasinski does stand out a bit next to his co-stars, due to his higher level of acting, despite the other actors doing well in their roles.
On the flip side, the worst thing about the film is the suspense, or, rather, the lack thereof. Throughout the entire film, our main protagonists are under near constant attack, yet I barely ever felt any tension in their situation. I never truly got attached to any of the characters, and thus I never feared for their lives. Although the story, and the real men who tragically gave their lives, is very sad, I never felt any tension or fear almost at all, and that pulled the film down a lot.
Like mentioned above, I never truly cared for the film's characters, and I'm basing that critically on the characters in the film, not the real men. This was completely the fault of the script, because of its inability to make me feel for the characters in the film. Although I feel that Chuck Hogan did a good job with the script, he didn't make me, as the viewer, care too much for the characters, which isn't a good thing to say about a writer.
Overall, I did enjoy 13 Hours, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again, I just wouldn't pay much for that chance. I'd recommend 13 Hours to anyone who likes action or war films, or is regularly involved in anything politics.