In an uncertain world dominated by terror talk and rabid jingoism (hi, GOP race!), Michael Bay’s brand of orgiastic violence could be seen as a taking of the cultural temperature.
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The screenplay, written by Chuck Hogan from Boston Globe reporter Mitchell Zuckoff’s book (co-written by surviving members of the security team), offers the point of view of the veteran security detail hired by the Central Intelligence Agency to police and protect their compound.
13 Hours had its premiere at the Texas stadium that is home to the Dallas Cowboys football team, with the so-called “patriotic rock” act Madison Rising among the supporting acts, and preview screenings on military bases have been scheduled.
“Without even appearing in the movie, “13 Hours” is an indictment of the failed leadership and bad judgment of Secretary Clinton”, said Colin Reed, executive director of America Rising PAC. It depicts the deadly 2012 attacks on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, which killed, among others, US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and on the secret Central Intelligence Agency facility a mile away manned by “private security officers” meant to beef up what had already been deemed an inadequately secured position.
Bay, known best for his blockbuster “Transformers” series, sat down with the Associated Press in Miami recently to discuss the film. I was on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the movie, watching intently to see what would happen next and if or when someone was going to die.
But the 36-year-old actor has undergone something of a makeover for his role in the new Michael Bay film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. But I think it’s safe to say that Bay really tried, and, to a limited degree, he succeeded.
“We were told to ‘stand down, ‘” Paronto said in an interview with Politico. It can also often be hard to always tell who is who in the midst of a firefight and nighttime setting. Rather it is attacked by Islamic militants who spend days casing both it and the Central Intelligence Agency annex before they execute a series of clearly coordinated and planned assaults. Admittedly, there are a lot of things I didn’t know before the movie.
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13 Hours repackages the story in Bay’s trademark slick, ultra-patriotic fashion, with its handful of bloodied veterans hunkered down against an overwhelming threat as flags wave (or burn) over their shoulders. We just had to get it right. There seemed to be a great deal of applause throughout and most appeared to appreciate the movie.
