12 Strong

Year: 2018
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Trevante Rhodes, Navid Negahban, William Fichtner


Plot: Based on the true story of Task Force Dagger, a team of twelve American soldiers sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to fight alongside an Afghan warlord against the Taliban.


Review: 12 Strong certainly treads familiar territory as far as US military true stories are concerned. It is reminiscent of films like Lone Survivor and Black Hawk Down, the latter also produced by 12 Strong producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Unfortunately, this movie isn't as compelling as those two. In fact, it's not even as interesting as Rambo III, which was mostly fiction, but was also set in Afghanistan.

The set up is interesting though. When the World Trade Center is attacked and destroyed on September 11th 2001, a group of soldiers led by inexperienced captain Mitch Nelson are deployed to Afghanistan. From the get go, the team faces many obstacles. Nelson has never been in actual combat before, despite being very motivated. There are language and cultural barriers to overcome. The team have no experience riding horses, which is the Afghan's primary mode of transportation. The Afghan warlord, General Dostum, isn't entirely convinced of the team's capability, and he has his own agenda as well. However, the team perseveres eventually, thanks to good teamwork, bravery and some help from the US air force dropping bombs on the Taliban.

Rookie director Nicolai Fuglsig films the battle scenes decently enough, though there are many instances where it's hard to tell who's firing at whom. The film also takes a considerable amount of time to get to its first action sequence, almost at the half mark. But really, the main problem with 12 Strong is being unable to fully engage the audience in its story or characters. 

Fuglsig and the screenwriters do make attempts to flesh out the men's personal lives, particularly the characters played by Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and Michael Pena, but it's nothing we haven't seen in other similar movies. Out of the twelve men, only these three and Trevante Rhodes stand out; the rest are mostly interchangeable with each other. Navid Negahban fares better as General Dostum, and his interactions with Hemsworth are interesting at times, but it doesn't leave a lasting impression. In fact, the most compelling scene in the entire film is the execution of an Afghan woman by the Taliban for educating young girls.

Still, all is not lost. The battle sequences, particularly in the second half, look good. But in the end, 12 Strong is just an average telling of a true story. Fuglsig and Bruckheimer try their best to emulate the works of Peter Berg but fall a bit short. (6.5/10)