"A completely different world". The unimaginable events of war are depicted beautifully in this film, '13 Hours'.

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2017)

'13 Hours', directed by Michael Bay, displays the surreal and heart-breaking events of war in a true story based on the events that took place in Banghazi on 11th September 2012. The film focuses on the soldiers and the people of the unofficial CIA base, ignoring the politics side of the story, placing and maintaining the viewer in the shoes of the soldiers, forcing them to go through an experience that no one would ever imagine going through, just as the soldiers would've been forced to.
While Michael Bay is known for creating explosive movies (pun intended), this film really does show that Bay can direct a fantastic film and also carry his own style with it. It is clear in the second act that this film *is* directed by Bay as we are introduced to the shaky-cam that makes our eyes roll around in our heads; the super saturated night shots with neon lights that make us question his editing techniques; and the infamous explosion festivals. Though, with all these questionable styles, no one can question his battle-cinematography choices. Bay does a fantastic job with bringing the viewer into the film and showing us just exactly what it's like to be in the shoes of these soldiers. We have no contact with the politics side of this situation, just as the soldiers don't. The entire second and third act we as the viewer are just as scared, nervous, and anxious as the soldiers in the film are.
So, while Michael Bay's film techniques may have been questionable and unnecessary in other films of his filmography, they are put to good use in this film and really add to the surreal settings of war.