13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Rest assured. If you don’t admire 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, it doesn’t render you unpatriotic or mean that you don’t support our troops.

Rather, such criticism instead shows that a true-life team of ex-military CIA security contractors that risked their lives at Benghazi in 2012 deserved a better cinematic tribute than this bombastic expose from director Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor) that gives action clichés priority over character depth.

The film offers a reminder of the events that began on Sept. 11, 2012, during a politically volatile climate in post-Gaddafi Libya, when Islamic militants attacked a diplomatic compound and a CIA annex, killing four Americans, including an ambassador. It focuses largely on the overnight aftermath of the siege, when six former Navy SEAL, Marine Force Recon, and Army Special Forces troops demonstrate tremendous bravery despite limited manpower and resources to defend the compound from enemy hands.

Bay’s attempt to change pace and salute courageous veterans might be admirable on the surface, but it generally feels like a missed opportunity to go behind the headlines by exploring an obscure angle to a high-profile international incident amid the ongoing war on terrorism. He’s always been a proficient technical filmmaker with an affinity for large-scale action set pieces and explosions, although his efforts are mixed to dial back those tendencies in this case in favor of grittier visuals that emphasize the brutal violence.

There’s nothing subtle about the approach of rookie screenwriter Chuck Hogan, who adapted a book by Mitchell Zuckoff, as his trite script seems so intent on selling these guys as heroes that it refuses to just let the story tell itself, embellishing details and compromising perspective to fit its narrative whims.

It doesn’t require a cynic to see the political ramifications here, even if it’s not intentional on the part of the filmmakers. It’s an election year, with a particular candidate in the crosshairs, and for many viewers, their opinions of the film will be drawn more from partisan allegiance than open-minded interpretation. Some might be disappointed that the film keeps such a tight focus on the ground in Libya rather than speculating about the ill-conceived response in Washington.

Surely marketers will take advantage by targeting their campaigns based more on preconceived notions than actual cinematic content. Either way, the mildly suspenseful result does little to advance the cinematic legacy of military heroism.

Rated R, 144 minutes.