In 2016, after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the U.S. ambassador, Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher), was attacked by Libyan insurgents. His security team called for aid from the nearby black site run by the CIA, and government contractors were dispatched to their rescue. The violence spilled over to the black site, and the contractors defended the CIA analysts for the eponymous 13 hours until they could be rescued.
This movie is jingoistic, hyper-masculine, patriarchal nonsense. It waxes lyrical about the heroism of these highly-paid private contractors, consistently referring to them as soldiers when the correct term is mercenary, and glosses over the blatant illegality of the CIA operating in Libya under the pretense of foiling terror, when all of their meetings are about oil and how best to strip natural resources from a nascent government. Nobody deserved to die over it, but it's hard to feel sympathy for a nest of spies being rooted out, even if they're our spies.
Michael Bay has never made a bad action movie. This is perfectly serviceable and maybe even enjoyable on its face. At least it's not giant robots fighting each other again. 13 Hours is currently streaming on Paramount+.
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