In 2012, the threat level in Benghazi, Libya was deemed “critical”. When everything went wrong, six men had the courage to do what was right.
Libya, 2012. At an unofficial CIA base in Benghazi a group of ex-military contractors are providing security. In the aftermath of Gaddafi’s downfall a power vacuum exists and the climate is volatile. Military weapons are freely available. The US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, makes a visit to the area, staying in a compound near the CIA base. On the night of 11 September, 2012, the Ambassador’s compound is attacked by hordes of heavily armed locals. The only forces willing and able to defend it are six CIA contractors.
Tyrone ‘Rone’ Woods: Payback’s a bitch and her stripper name is Karma.
Shot in Malta and Morocco , it almost seems like it was actually shot in Libya . This movie is based on a book with the same name . All of this is said to have happened exactly the same on the night of 11 September 2012 . And unlike 12 Strong , it seems realistic . No BS. The movie has some amazing action and dialogues but I do think that some roles could have been done better .
The movie starts back home in the US , where everything is normal and routine . And then Jack Silva has to go to Libya , where things are deteriorating . The CIA annex and the US Diplomatic post are the last foreign outposts in the country , everyone else has evacuated . But CIA you know , badass . Or maybe not . And the biggest surprise is that everyone knows that the CIA is there but nobody knows where they are i.e., their exact location is unknown to the locals .
Jack Silva: What would they say about me? “He died in a place he didn’t need to be, in a battle over something he doesn’t understand, in a country that meant nothing to him.”
The US ambassador arrives and has his meeting with the Libyan counterpart . Until here, the annex team is just the backup / extra security for the ambassador as the ambassador has the DS guys . Now , US ambassadors have a lot of security but this one , he was travelling light , only a two man team .
And then the attack starts to unfold and it is shown so beautifully how the locals start running away and how even the local police and the local guards ran away as soon as they got to know about what was going to happen . All of this is happening and the guys at the annex can’t do anything about it . All they can do is wait and listen to the guns and grenades going off . Here the director has done an amazing or rather I would say perfect job to show how helpless those DS guys were.
Glen ‘Bub’ Doherty: Okay, annex, we’re officially lost. Neither Google or Siri know where the fuck you are.
The main problem was that they were in a foreign country and nobody knew about it . And they weren’t supposed to be there . They were not supposed to be in Libya . The United States government had officially removed their officials from there . It wasn’t their jurisdiction and the CIA station chief did not allow them to go as soon as the attack started .
From that point , the story starts moving quickly . The attack then moves to the annex and the movie shows how those men fought and saved what was theirs . And I do believe that all of this actually happened in reality on 9/11/2012 .
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT : DEFINITELY .
MY RATING : 82/100
TBH : FIGHT FOR WHAT IS YOURS .
Tyrone ‘Rone’ Woods: How would you feel if you had to protect Americans at $28 a day and then bring your own bullets?
Jack Silva: Well, why leave security to the professionals, right?
AY MOVIES 