12 Strong: a true portrayal of war

By Sophia Doshi

As a teenager, I have obviously never experienced truly what war is like. I've never been to an active battlefield or slept in the open behind enemy lines. The only taste of war that I have gotten is from the media, mostly the news and the ever-present war movie. Even then, the media is too far from the truth to make me understand what really happens when the nation goes to war. However, 12 Strong is a down-to-earth, authentic, and heart-wrenching interpretation of war, specifically the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.  

The film is based on a true, successful U.S. military mission during the war in Afghanistan. You can read more about it here: www.uso.org. 

I am not sure about the exact personalities of each soldier that was involved in the mission but the actor portrayals were so well done that they tugged at my heartstrings, and made me connect to them in such a way that I did not want to see any of them perish. Chris Hemsworth does a great job of embodying a no-nonsense leader, with a team made up of actors like Michael Shannon and Michael Peña (who I was surprised to see acting in a war movie, but he did a great job). The only character portrayal that threw me off was General Dostum's quips and Confucious-like sayings. I feel that in the m middle of a war, the most prominent leader of the Northern Alliance would not be accusing a military captain of "being afraid of death". Well, duh, he's going to be afraid of death; he has a wife and daughter at home.

While there wasn't an undercurrent of themes flowing throughout the movie or any deep meaning that the characters were trying to convey, the film was entertaining and had a great pace, keeping me interested and on the edge of my seat. This film was one of the most accurate war representations out there, alongside Dunkirk and some others (I have yet to see all the renowned war movies out there). It's a solid 9/10 for me!

Cover image from IMDb