13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

The solid action scenes aren’t enough to save the flat story. In an effort to be serious, Bay becomes less entertaining. We’ve seen bands of tough guys pitted against ragheads a billion times. Of course, the bloody finale is fine, but I wanted more catchphrases and some crazy sadistic son of a bitch to spice up the boredom a little. I understand that based on real events means less of everything and more harsh reality, but then it would require a more interesting historical milestone than this. Next time they should try Greengrass or to film it from the Jihadis’ point of view, where the goons from the CIA would play the bad guys. (09/07/2016)

13 Hours subjectively ends it, Michael Bay pulls one pathetic cartridge after another from his sleeve, there are bloody plastic bags and an American flag... Otherwise, this attempt to grasp the absurdity of the geopolitical situation through a realistic view is pleasantly cheesy. You would go for a beer and a fox hunt with most of the heroes-contractors. They are full-bearded, pert, simple and, unlike over-wise and re-educated operatives, they "know the map". But the action served in waves has balls, a gore factor and dynamics. At times, however, Bay forgets that he wanted to stay short and pulls out his typical mortars. The runtime is hard to defend, and ideologically, this work (like all of Michael's "more thoughtful" films) moves on a minefield of hardness... but it is quite fun, not as sharply cut and cohesive as Black Hawk Down, but it's still reliable enough to the title of the sweatiest and most sentimental macho film of 2016. Too bad Optimus Prime doesn’t emerge at the end. That would be expensive. (19/01/2017)

Bay messes around with digital and doesn't realize that if there's anything his visual signature is good for, it's definitely not high-frequency, especially when combined with a portrayal of real-life traumatic events. The problem is the lighting in general, especially at night, where he fails to avoid his trademark sharp contre-jour and backlighting in almost pastel shades, which successfully ruins the desired feeling of the viewer being in Benghazi with the characters, instead giving the impression of being on set with the actors. It doesn't help at all that there are almost thirty different characters running around the story, a good half of whom look more or less the same and don't differ much in their personal motivations either, since they all miss their families and children. Taken out of context with overwrought visual craziness (where there's supposed to be pain and trauma, there's a TPS shot of a mortar shell landing; where there's supposed to be sweat and tears, there's a charred family photo falling from the sky) doesn't add much to the integrity of it all. So all that's left are a few perfectionistically shot scenes of wartime chaos and a final message from an American soldier to a bloodied Libyan, "You should clean up this mess," which sadly underscores the current toothlessness of American foreign policy, which put out what fires it could for 60 years and has now decided to walk away from it all as if it had nothing to do with it. (25/05/2016)

Michael Bay is a commercial filmmaker with a great grasp of basic genre scales and practices, but he cannot naturalise all the events, including the action sequences, and give them a fatal, physically painful feel. 13 Hours is a prototype of a good action flick, but it desperately lacks any innovative impulse that would elevate it to the category of excellent – the protagonist is presented using the most profane clichés and his only motivation is traditionally to return to his wife and small daughters, while the other players in the story are nothing but passer-bys, hard to tell from one another thanks to identical physical parameters in the action turmoil. The basic plot is plumped up by the annoying figure of the irrational boss, who only acts expediently to further escalate the situation, and finally the action itself doesn't make you completely surrender to it and forget everything else. We can praise the fast pace, thanks to which the runtime doesn't feel excessive, and the opening documentary passage and the related depiction of Benghazi as a real hell on earth, where killing is the order of the day. It's a more sincere and effective film than the disparate Pearl Harbor, but still too contrived and lacking in intensity, a stale looser compared to Black Hawk Down. 60% (30/05/2016)

A riveting and intense film with Michael Bay at the peak of his career! "Call Of Duty" rules! And I give it a five cleaner than the bottom of the ocean. This movie absolutely outdoes all war movies of similar stature (Lone Survivor, American Sniper, Jarhead). After a slower opening, Bay serves up perhaps 100 minutes of epic, spectacular and intense warfare, with this elite six defending the embassy tooth and nail against the waves of Libyans! The six elite Marines are superbly chosen and although there are no familiar faces among them, they all perform so professionally and convincingly that you keep your fingers crossed for 144 minutes. The cinematography is undeniably stunning, the authenticity and dark atmosphere draws you in so much that you feel they are spending time with the characters in the film, and the explosions are a blast in places. The properly served brutality is also a pleasure, especially towards the end people with weaker stomachs will close their eyes, while "The Others" will rejoice and growl with joy. There are also plenty of powerful and memorable moments that bring goosebumps and tears flow at the same time, and I think five times I screamed for joy across the cinema. Yes that's how much the film excited me. A motherfucking intense movie right off the edge of the year and it undoubtedly will have a place in the Top 10. Story 7/10, Atmosphere 8/10, Gore 8/10, Visuals 10/10, Action 10/10, Suspense 9/10, Humour 5/10. Entertainment 9/10. 95%. More of this, please! (05/02/2016)