13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

 

"What can I do?" "Get some F-16's to put the fear of God and the United States of America into them."

A major part of Michael Bay's signature style and quite possibly a part of his successful formula is his fervent desire to lionise the doers in his films. The cops of Bad Boys refusing to give up, the blue-collar spirit of Armageddon's drillers, the motive of Ed Harris' villain from The Rock, the never-give-up spirit of the Transformers, or the gung-ho can-do attitude of military and police officers in all his films, who are often portrayed or advised by real military officers. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi puts the spirit of action-over-diplomacy as a mission statement wherein covert military contractors are assigned to protect a CIA outpost and a nearby American embassy when angry militia groups in the politically turbulent city of Benghazi, Libya attack in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi's death. In 2012, Benghazi is overrun by militia gangs battling for control on the post-Gaddafi powstarcuum, ex-Navy Seal Jack Da Silva (Kransinski) lands in Bengazhi and as he is being eyed up by the local populace he meets up with his friend and team leader Tyrone "Rone" Woods (Badge Dale) who, after a tense stand-off in a militia road-checkpoint, introduces him to the small team of military contractors and CIA personnel all under the authority of "The Chief" (David Constabile of TV's Breaking Bad). The Chief and Rone are at constant odds with Rone demanding actions and escalations of security with the Chief demanding the Americans maintain a low profile. This all comes to a head when the nearby residence of US Ambassador Stevens is attacked and Rone demands his team be dispatched to protect their countrymen.

It's painfully clear how earnest and personal this film is for Bay, and it shows as one of his more mature and restrained movies. While visually and thematically the film borrows heavily from (and even explicitly mentions) Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, there is enough of the positive and negative sides of Bayhem on show. The film wastes little time throwing Silva and Rone into a tense stand-off minutes in with the first lines of dialogue being no-nonsense military banter regarding weaponry and tactics. Much of the dialogue is fast-paced and jargon-filled, and little time is is spent on the political dynamics on moral motivations behind the American presence there, or even on the mind-set of the Benghazi people. Instead the majority of characters are one-dimensional and exist as little beyond their jobs and the people of Benghazi are either by-standers, hidden foes or questionable friends. Often the concept of the hidden threat and shady allegiances is used to surprisingly effective degree, but this only comes into question about an hour into the film. Up until this point 13 Hours is a slog of poorly mixed dialogue, doers-versus-thinkers headbutting and action-espionage, but when the action kicks off Bay hits his stride.

By this point it's worth mentioning that 13 Hours is not a film for the mainstream, it's a passion-project with no real lead star about a politically complex and unpopular incident. This is a film made for the US military, it's fans and fans of war-action in general and this is the bread-and-butter of Bay's film-making. While he's most often derided for his unrestrained, high-octane,cluttered, and at times incomprehensible action-style with heavy effects in 13 Hours it works wonders. The action scenes are chaotic, but the protagonists move through it with order and purpose, with bystanders and potential foes and friends leaping out of the dark, bushes and through fire. With little CGI Bay and cinematographer Dion Beebe (Edge of Tomorrow, Memoirs of a Geisha, Collatoral) use a vast array of visual styles to create an exceptional warzone. And the usually indulgent and intrusive aspects of Bay's visual style really pay off here such as perspective shots from guns, documentary-style night-vision filters, Bay's beloved helicopter shots, plenty of hand-held and steadi-cam, unmotivated lights, low angles, fast-paced tracking shots, telephoto lenses, the time of the day constantly changing, smoke, dust, blood, sweat and dirt just look and feel great. It's visceral, engaging and at times immersive. It works, the fights don't feel epic they feel efficient, brutal, enhanced but certainly the grit and uncertainty of reality is present. Bay and Beebe also have a strong eye for some beautiful colour and composition, it's not rife with meaning but it's technically beautiful.

13 Hours is a strange beast. It's Michael Bay's most restrained film by a certain degree, but at the same time it's exactly as trashy (in terms of narrative and character) with unintelligible dialogue (see J. J. Abrams Star Wars and Star Trek to see a good version of this kind of dialogue) and it's made to directly appease a niche audience but teach nothing new or give any depth they didn't already feel. But at the same time it's one of the best depictions of war-combat in recent times, the action is engrossing and tense all the way through the film's almost egregious running time. If you like good gunfights and want to see more John Kransinski, maybe this is the film for you.