If Michael Bay was paid a dollar for every negative review he's gotten in his career, he would've accumulated the box-office of the last Transformers film by now. But for those who know the helmer more for his robot blockbusters, there was once a promising Tony Scott-like action filmmaker in there somewhere, with a strong aesthetic palette and a deft handling of carnage.
Often when filmmakers have success, they can become indulgent because there's no one with the balls to tell them, 'No, the film shouldn't be two and a half hours long, it's about Bruce Willis saving the earth from a big rock'. This is pretty much what happened to Bay; but before then there was the fun, Will Smith superstar launcher 'Bad Boys' and, arguably his best film, 'The Rock.'
Bay might've just bested The Rock, with this flag waving, earnest and intense but purposeful action thriller about the siege in Benghazi in 2012 that took four American lives.
John Krasinski is Jack, a former Navy Seal who joins his mate Rone (an imposing James Badge Dale) in Libya, as part of a six-man security detail hired by the C.I.A to work in a secret Consulate called 'The Annex' in conjunction with local law enforcement. It all goes tits-up when The U.S. Ambassador's compound is attacked. The six men, all contractors, find themselves the only chance The Ambassador and his staff have to survive. What follows is an elongated, bloody siege, that drew strong criticism in the US after political red tape cost American lives.
If Bay has nailed one thing aside from action over his career, it's macho back-and-forths between his main players. He couldn't have better characters here to do that with; these are a group of Alpha Males, but family men, just looking to make some money to take home. Boom. Instant depth. Casting the always watchable Krasinski as the core of the film gives an initial vulnerability, but strangely allows the character the space to grow - at least in the eyes of the audience. These men all know what they're doing, are incredible at their jobs, but what transpires is ultimately out of their control.
There's a nice nod to Black Hawk Down in one scene, which is apt, both in reality and cinematic terms. This is absolute, utter carnage surrounding a particular event almost still too close to be part of American history, and 13 Hours compares favorably to Ridley Scott's war flick.
Anyone looking for two sides to the story here (ala Three Kings) will find obvious frustrations. It's pretty much a siege movie that doesn't offer much in the way of character outside of its six main players and there are a fair amount of moments simply designed to have audiences across the pond air punch 'MERICA. But, it's also an explosive, entertaining and tense watch that proves Bay is a decent director when he wants to be.