"13 Hours" Film Review

I have to give credit where credit is due. Michael Bay tried to bring us an emotional tale of the tragic events that took place in Benghazi as told through the soldiers' perspectives. Mind you, there are emotional and sad moments, but it felt like it moved at too slow of a pace for us to really catch on. There's about 30 minutes of introduction and some of it feels unnecessary.

Now, since this is told through the eyes of the people that were attacked, there's never a clear reason given as to why this attack took place. Director Michael Bay chose to avoid the e-mail scandal involving Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and stay focused on what mattered. That's admirable, and it is nice that the film honors and respects those whose lives were taken that day, but it also would have been helpful to shed light on what happened behind the scenes. There are a lot of people that know there was an attack and that people died but they have no clue what any of it was really about. We needed a film that would expose the truth but also respect the lives lost.

The acting was incredible. John Krasinski was the stand-out star of the film, turning his back on comedy in order to give us a harrowing performance of a man just trying to survive to get home to his family. David Denman, also usually more comedic (and co-starred with Krasinski in The Office), performs well and professional.

The battle scenes are well done, filmed in high quality, and made to look as realistic as possible. I was relieved that Director Michael Bay didn't attempt to "spice up" the battle scenes as he usually loves to do. He remained truthful to the events as the occurred and I respect him for that.

In conclusion, I wasn't emotionally moved like I wanted to be. I was intrigued and it did keep my interest, but it failed to explain why so many had to die. Perhaps someone will make a film about the scandal surrounding Benghazi in the near future, or perhaps it will be covered up and set aside. Only time will tell, and in this day and age, time is a precious privilege that must not be wasted.