12 Strong Review

After watching the horrific events of 9/11, Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) and his team sign up to head over to Afghanistan on September 12, 2001. Mitch, Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon), Sam Diller (Michael Pena) and the rest of the team get tasked with taking out Al-Qaida strongholds while on the way to liberate various villages from Taliban.

While there, Mitch develops an uneasy partnership with the Northern Alliance that’s led by General Dostum (Navid Negahban). The movie is based on a true story that was made into a book, 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers written by Doug Stanton. When facing overwhelming odds the film poses a thought of whether or not Mitch and his team can accomplish the impossible while working to become heroes of their time.

12 Strong has a strong cast, in which everyone seemed to really care what they were doing. Given the theme and feel of the movie it’s not hard to see why. Considering none of the actual filming took place outside of America, the film did good work with displaying the proper environments and landscapes where the movie took place.

Some might not care about this because they may think that it’s just another war movie, but they are wrong. 12 Strong is a war movie, but it is very different than the current offerings available that have been produced as of recent.

It not only shows how tough it was in Afghanistan for the soldiers, but also the people who live there. I personally liked how the relationship between Mitch and Dostum started along with how it evolved and changed which shows you can never know how a person will be.

12 Strong is a tense action film that puts you at the edge of your seat and keeps you there till the end. Unlike many other war movies, that build up their characters to god-like personas, it keeps the soldiers very real and believable. But like other similar films of the war genre, 12 Strong pulls on the viewers heartstrings. However, it does throw in some humor to help lift the mood a little bit.

The Conclusion

12 Strong is a well-done war movie that follows right after the horrific events on September 11, 2001. Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon do an excellent job holding the cast together on this one.

The film keeps you on the edge of seat, but also gets you laughing while you watch to help lighten mood. 12 Strong does a good job showing how all parties are affected by the Taliban. If you like War movies, you’ll want to give this film a watch.

12 Strong Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Warner Brothers

Rating Overall: 7.0