13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Who's kidding who? Any film that centers on the imminent attack of an embassy, government annex, military base, a compound or the Pentagon has enough dramatic fodder to give us a sure fire script to bring anyone into the multiplex eagerly waiting to see how these films pan out. Films such as "Pearl Harbor", "Zero Dark Thirty", "United 93", "Captain Phillips", even "The World Trade Center" are sure to keep its audience glued to their seats. Now we have "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" to add to that never ending list.

This is an action thriller based on the 2014 non-fiction book written by Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team. The film depicts the harrowing true story of the attack on a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, which killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stephens (Matt Letscher). After the assault begins, a U.S. Special Ops Team, including Jack Silva (John Krasinkski), Tyrone 'Rone' Woods (James Badge Dale), Kris 'Tanto' Paronto (Pablo Schreiber), Dave 'Boon' Benton (David Denman), John 'Tig' Tiegen (Dominic Fumusa) and Mark 'Oz' Geist (Max Martini), are sent to the annex to protect those still trapped within the compound. These guys are there to attempt to decipher what's happening and make sense of all the chaos and subsequently end up in the middle of the conflict only to try and save the others.

Others to round out the cast are Alexia Barlier as Sona Jillani, David Costabile as Bob, Peyman Moaadi as Amahl, Toby Stephens as Glen 'Bub' Doherty, Demetrius Grosse as DS Dave Ubben and Christopher Dingli as Sean Smith.

This was directed with grit, intensity and explosiveness by the high-adrenaline junkie Michael Bay ("Bad Boys" '95, "The Rock" '96, "Armageddon" '98, "Pearl Harbor" '01, "Bad Boys II" '03, "The Island" '05, "Transformers" '07, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" '09, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" '11, "Pain & Gain" '13, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" '14) plus videos. Just by his very resume, we know that he knows his way around an intense storyline. Not only did he show us the tragedy of this attack in the most violent of ways, but he even shows the aftermath of what happens to both sides of this conflict and the pain and anguish that ensues when both sides pay the price for a war situation. It was written by a virtual newcomer to feature films, Chuck Hogan and although this was certainly not Academy Award quality, it was truly a better written script than what would warrant considering this guy is a newer writer. Really, with the exception of a couple of places of lack of continuity, this script was solid. I'm waiting to see what this writer could hammer out next if this is a new venture for him. The photography by Dion Beebe, asc and the editing by Pietro Scalia, Michael McCuster and Calvin Wimmer was outstanding showcasing the intensity of the film frame by frame.

This film has a one two punch that not only will get your adrenaline moving, but will shed more light of what happened during those 13 hours of hell that none of us ever came to realize which makes this that much more poignant. Trust me, your emotions will run the gambit--from a slow crawl to a gallop, and by films' end one will truly feel the effects of this well after the end of the credits.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                            Rated: R                            144mins.