12 Strong was Surprisingly Weak

12 Strong (2018)

12 Strong was a serviceable war film. Having never been to war, I cannot attest to the accuracy, but as a movie it was quite formulaic and predictable. The acting was fine and the action set pieces were good, but it was a little long and could have benefited from dropping about 15 minutes of characterization. I am the type that remembers minute details about movies, but I can’t tell you the name of a single character in this movie. Nothing stuck with me like in Hacksaw Ridge and nothing was tense like Dunkirk and nothing will carry this film to later generations like Saving Private Ryan. I respect and admire the courage of the soldiers, but this story seems about 10 to 15 years too early. I find that films about modern wars tell wonderful and often heart wrenching stories, but they are overshadowed by the currently ongoing crisis in the region. But I don’t like to get political in these, so I will about face and talk about how criminal that Blake Shelton got Sexiest Man Alive over Chris Hemsworth. That is a damn crime and People is officially the #1 purveyor of #FAKENEWS in my opinion. Overall, the movie was 6 out of 12 Strong. It was fine and a little long, but when I look back at my rankings at the end of the year, I will have a hard time remembering what it was about by just the title.