What a surprisingly delightful treat!
It’s no secret my lukewarm enthusiasm for the modern military genre, and yet 12 Strong, a seemingly typical war drama, is both very entertaining and very agreeable. While the action sequences are fun to watch, 12 Strong is no mindless popcorn flick—as its colorful cast of characters keeps the downtime sequences alive and engaging. 12 Strong is good at making its characters likable, and it doesn’t hurt to have some effective actors cast as them. Chris Hemsworth plays protagonist Captain Mitch Nelson in what is pretty much a war coming-of-age story. Taking place directly after 9/11, an enraged Nelson forgoes a desk job promotion so he and his training team can be the first American soldiers to fight in the War on Terror. Nelson is a trained soldier who his team trust—the only problem is he’s never been in actual combat before. This provides a very unique situation where it’s the leader, rather than the newest recruit, who’s the greenhorn—leading to several conflicts such as their ally Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban), leader of the Northern Alliance, to view Chief Warrant Officer Spencer (Michael Shannon) as their team’s leader over the younger, innocent-eyed Nelson.
Dostum is one of the most likable warlords I’ve ever seen in a film (whether he’s so likable in real life is an entirely different story) with Negahban giving a potent performance. The actor and script strike the right cords in making him a three-dimensional character over a stereotypical middle eastern. Dostum is humorous without playing the buffoon, sympathetic without being pitiful, and endearing without whitewashing his ruthlessness. His relationship with Nelson is quite touching as they learn from each other, grow as characters and form a genuine bond. MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN: Dostum even gets the final kill against the film’s lead Taliban antagonist (Saïd Taghmaoui). Among the likable secondary cast are solid performances from Michael Peña, Michael Shannon (who’s casting automatically gives 12 Strong a plus), William Fichtner, Rob Riggle and Trevante Rhodes who forms a heartwarming relationship with an Alliance child soldier who doesn’t die just to pull some cheap emotional strings (again, another plus to the film). I genuinely like most of the American and Alliance soldiers, creating increased investment and tension during the battle sequences.
12 Strong swiftly moves through the mandatory military clichés—setting up the team, saying goodbye to family, etc.—to get to its main mission (do I hear another plus). I write the following without sarcasm: the final battle between the American/Alliance and the Taliban gave me an ever-so-similar vibe to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Maybe it is the men on horses riding into battle, or the battle’s setting, or Dostum showing up during Nelson’s bleakest moment to assist. Nevertheless, the final battle is an exciting piece of old-school entertainment—something rarely seen in modern military films. MAJOR SPOILERS END
It’s worth mentioning 12 Strong is a clear-cut “good guys vs. bad guys” film. There’s little to no grey morality going on here—the American soldiers are all upstanding people and what ruthlessness Dostum brings is both redeemed by the end and tripled by the Taliban. Some people may dislike such a black and white approach to The War on Terror—it’s an understandable criticism. Yet it’s such criticism I find to be the film’s strong point, with the key to 12 Strong’s success being it's less of a modern military drama and more a character-driven adventure. The film’s focus isn’t on historical accuracy or grey morality—such aspects take a backseat—but on telling a rousing semi-epic with heroes its audience can cheer on. 12 Strong is a modern military film on the surface, but at its core is an entertainingly old-fashioned action-adventure with a heart full of colorful characters.
