12 Strong (2018) || Movie Review

Some days ago, my colleague and I were talking about our favorite Hollywood actors and actresses. Then I discovered we both have lots of favorite actors in common like Denzel Washington, Chris Hemsworth, Liam Nelson, Queen Latifah, Kate Beckinsale, Ryan Reynolds, and so many more. So we got talking about Chris Hemsworth and I discovered that I'd missed out on some of his movies.

My colleague recommended I watch this movie immediately and he assured me that I would enjoy it. So immediately I got home, I looked for the movie on my streaming site and I don't have regrets watching this movie. It was a wonderful experience for me and I missed seeing Chris Hemsworth on the screen.

”12 Strong” is an action war film that was based on a non-fiction book titled “Horse Soldiers” written by Doug Stanton. This book centers around the story of a special army force team of the US that were sent to Afghanistan immediately after the September 11 attacks to ensure the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif.

”12 Strong” was directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig. It starred Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill and Rob Riggle.

Mitch Nelson, a U.S army captain of ODA 595 team just moved to a new house with wife and daughter on 11th September, 2001 when four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States. Mitch received his assignment to go serve under Lieutenant Colonel Bowers. However Mitch volunteers to lead his team (ODA 595) to Afghanistan. Bower refuses, but Hal Spencer, a veteran scheduled to retire soon, steps in to convince Bower to let Mitch lead the team and also volunteer him for the mission.

On 7th October, the 595 team left their families and traveled to Uzbekistan. After they'd been briefed by their commander, 595 team was picked to fight alongside Northern Alliance leader Abdul Rashid Dostum. So the next day the team was shipped off to Afghanistan on a Boeing CH-47 Chinook. They landed south of Mazar-i-Sharif, the country's fourth-largest city and a longtime stronghold of the Taliban. Will Mitch and his team do this deployment?

My Review And Rating

I enjoyed watching this movie but after discovering that this movie was based on a written book of the actual event, I feel like there is more of the story that has been left out during the production of the movie. Yes, this movie is about events that really happened, but the question is was it properly depicted in the movie? Well, I can't tell because I haven't read the book, but I plan on reading the book soon. So I will review this movie based on my experience with it.

Action war films always get one emotionally and can take one on a rollercoaster journey. I was on the edge of my seat for the duration of the movie because I wanted to quickly see what happens at the end (is it a happy or sad ending?), I wanted to know if all the 595 team members will come back home to their families and will they succeed? All these questions made the tension and suspense this movie gave me high.

In my opinion, I say that this movie is an amazing action war movie that captures the heroism of the 595 team who were the first team in Afghanistan. Regardless of the fact that they had heavy bounties on their heads and they were outnumbered. They fought wildly and bravely like it was their last war. I love the team. They were united even when they had to split into two. They had one voice and they had each other's back.

The plot was well written and a little bit comprehensive. Though I feel there more things that were left out because of the duration of the movie. Nicolai Fuglsig did a great job with the movie. Is it the setting, mood, tone, cast, scene arrangements, location, cinematography, action stunts and the choreography. It was all decent and wonderful. Yes, the movie might not impress the people who have read book but I say, a good amount of work was put into this movie.

The cast was one of the reasons I enjoyed watching this movie from start to finish. The actors were right pick. They were all amazing with the performance they dished out. They all Brough their characters to life and it feel real. The actors who impressed me were Chris, Michael, Navid Negahban and Trevante Rhodes. You see these four actors convinced me that I was actually watch a war action movie.

Trevante was the little comic relief for me, I enjoyed watching how he form an emotional bond with the boy that was assigned to protect him. Navid was a fantastic actor who expectionally portrayed the character of Dostum. He convincing and ruthless at the same time. Chris Hemsworth was star of the movie. He carried his role well like he should. When it was time for his spotlight he shines through his character. I love his mannerism all through the movie.

Rating this movie I will give 8.7 out of 10 stars. I really enjoyed and honestly, I didn't like the fact that I haven't seen some of Chris Hemsworth's movies. It is a decent action war movie that watched by the family. I would recommend this movie to action war film lovers, fan of Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon.