15 years ago, Blackhawk Down was released to wide critical acclaim. It is a harrowing, exciting and ultimately very good account for an operation that ended in disaster for US policy in Somalia, very similar to the Vietnam effect. The most infamous incident was the dragging of dead helicopter pilots through the streets of jeering crowds in Mogadishu. It is interesting that that incident is brought up in 13 Hours, because this movie is almost a direct sequel/remake to that movie.
13 Hours tells the ground story behind the events in Benghazi, Libya that ultimately led to the death of US Ambassador Chris Stevens. It sets up the situation beforehand and the attacks on the Ambassadorial compound and nearby CIA compound. It paints itself as a pretty straightforward action film, telling what happened without trying to politicize it, a fight still continuing at the time of this writing.
In the end, this movie, like all Michael Bay movies, is a very exciting, slick action film and it makes no apologies for being so. Despite the criticism that Michael Bay makes nothing but audience-pleasing blockbuster crap, and therefore is a sellout hack, there is a reason he is given big movie after big movie to make. And that reason is...
He's really good.
Yes, I said it! Michael Bay, despite the stupid movies he makes, is a director par excellence. (For a fascinating video article on why his style "Bayhem" is so captivating. http://www.avclub.com/article/heres-learned-analysis-why-michael-bay-movies-are--206582). Movies, by their very design, are meant to manipulate the audience into feeling a certain way. Many people will vehemently deny it, thinking they know better and that they can't be manipulated. But film language is very subtle and deeply ingrained into out collective psyche, and that's why they are the most effective forms of propaganda/presentation out there. Every element is specifically chosen to make you feel a certain way from choice of actors to costuming to angles to lighting to script to choice of music. 13 Hours is a rousing actioneer that is exciting to watch. So why am I bringing all this up? Because 13 Hours is also a huge propaganda piece criticizing US foreign policy (specifically Bush and Clinton) and the CIA masquerading as a slick action film.
This is in no way a critique of the men that the piece was about or the events surrounding it. It has all the Bay flag-waving trademarks so prevalent in Armageddon and other Bay films, stoking feelings of patriotic pride in the fight of the individual. But it also critiques the US as weak and hapless with close ups of the American flag being riddled with buckets in closeup and a closing shot of the same flag floating in a pool at the film's closing shot. But it is most egregious with the treatment of the CIA chief, "Bob." It initially portrays him as an arrogant, dismissive, power-hungry S.O.B. at the beginning, berating and not listening to the sage advice of his more knowledgeable contractors, all former military. As the plot moves on, he becomes obstinate, ineffectual, almost cowardly and finally, stubborn because he won't leave the compound at the end with everyone else. But let's break this down. It is being told by the operator, so it has a point of view, a take on events that are true and not at the same time. While I am not defending actions of an arrogant boss, Bob has his own responsibilities to his own people. As is often pointed out in the film, everyone knows it is a shady area and was ripe for attack. The compound held several CIA operatives and analysts, who, if captured, would certainly have been horrifically tortured for the information and propaganda value they had. Bob's responsibility (and the operators), were ultimately to this facility. They were not a quick reaction force, and while it was laudible what the operators did in the face of US inaction to save Ambassador Stevens, they ultimately failed to do anything to change his fate, while putting over 30 other Americans at risk.
Also, in the end of the movie, in the smoking aftermath, Bob refuses to leave because he has to keep collecting intelligence, which is painted as ludicrous and childishly petulant. But I couldn't help but feel a little admiration for Bob. Despite the fact he was almost killed and is in an incredibly dangerous area, he still wants to do his job, which ultimately protects Americans. Despite all the obstacles and danger, he still wants to do what he is charged to do. This is the type of behavior is rightfully lauded in our armed forces, but because we aren't supposed to like Bob, so it is used to deride him, which I took a little offense to. When I came out of this movie, I was asking myself, what was the point of the film? Despite being fun to watch, there is no context to what is happening here, no wider story. It is a moment in time with terrible consequences. Unlike the far superior Blackhawk Down, there is no theme, no context and ultimately no point.
But it's pretty cool to watch.
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