Film Review: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi « Hot Air"...Until this weekend, the story of the 2012 attack on our consulate in Benghazi has been almost exclusively in the hands of the Obama Administration (and the media, but I repeat myself), who have spun a yarn about faulty intelligence leading them to believe a Youtube video caused a spontaneous protest that turned violent and could not have been prevented or mitigated.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi now puts that story in the hands of
Michael Bay.
...Much to my surprise, Bay has instead delivered a poignant and harrowing view of the events of September 11, 2012 from the perspective of the people who were there in Benghazi as it unfolded.
In fact, 13 Hours is so well constructed that had it not been for some of the usual shots and frenetic editing that distinctly mark the film as one of Bay’s, I would believe he let someone else direct it for him.
...
We are shown a woefully unfortified consulate whose defense is left almost entirely in the hands of unreliable Libyan allies.
It is not overrun by a protest that got out of hand, and there is pointed dialog noting that fact later in the movie.
Rather it is attacked by Islamic militants who spend days casing both it and the CIA annex before they execute a series of clearly coordinated and planned assaults.
And more infuriating than anything else, we watch as calls for backup continue to go unheeded for hours, with fighter jets sitting unmanned on the tarmac as the Americans desperately fight to repel waves of well armed terrorists.
Even our heroes are explicitly and repeatedly told to “stand down” despite the frantic pleas from the Consulate that “if you don’t come, we’re going to f*cking die!”
...So believe it or not, Michael Bay did it.
He not only created a movie with the potential to change how people view the events of that night in Benghazi, but one that’s a legitimately good film in its own right.
So 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a
5 on Ed Morrissey’s HotAir scale:5 – Full price ticket
4 – Matinee only
3 – Wait for Blu-Ray/DVD/PPV rental or purchase
2 – Watch it when it hits Netflix/cable
1 – Avoid at all costs
It’s a powerful and compelling look at an important moment in recent history that’s absolutely worth a couple hours in a theater to know more about the unquestionable heroism displayed by men who were trapped in a hellish situation that was not only foreseeable, but entirely preventable..."
