12 Strong

Rating

C (3/5)

Three words

Patriotic, True, Formulaic

Brief Review

12 Strong is based on a true story of a Special Forces unit that was sent to Afghanistan directly following the events 9/11. Simply put, this is a pretty formulaic patriotic US war movie, but it is still entertaining. The plot is slow in the beginning as they develop everything but then nearly non-stop action for the last third of the movie. My biggest complaint with this movie is how unrealistic it felt. For me, the battle scenes were very hit or miss. The bad scenes were overly dramatized with heroic soldiers charging on their horses directly into oncoming fire while miraculously never being even scratched. However, the good scenes were much more realistic and actually caused a feeling of tension in the battles. The acting was also very hit or miss, definitely not one Chris Hemsworth’s best movies. Finally, the dialogue at times was almost painful and totally did not seem realistic. Overall, this movie definitely left a lot on the table, but it is still an entertaining war movie. If you’re looking for a patriotic movie about the bravery of US soldiers in one of America’s toughest times, then this is the movie for you. Just expect a fairly formulaic movie.