movie reviews 12 strong

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

“Understated” isn’t a word you’d ordinarily use to describe a Jerry Bruckheimer production, but that’s surprisingly what “12 Strong” ends up being.

That’s not to say it’s completely restrained, by any means. In telling a tale of real-life heroism against staggering odds, this is a rousing war picture, meant to stir equal amounts of excitement and patriotism. Set soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, “12 Strong” is packed with protracted battle sequences, full of deafening bombings and seemingly endless amounts of gunfire. The cumulative effect is draining; you’ll walk out of the theater with the feeling that you, too, have gone to war – and an appreciation for those who are brave enough to do so themselves.

But Danish commercial director Nicolai Fuglsig , making his feature filmmaking debut, draws on his previous experience as a photojournalist to bring a sense of gritty realism to the action rather than sweeping sentimentality. The vibrant sound design also plays a crucial role in immersing us, as does a score that increasingly cranks up the tension.

It’s all solid from a technical perspective. Where the film could have used more power is in its narrative momentum. Based on the screenplay from Ted Tally (“ The Silence of the Lambs ”) and Peter Craig (“ The Town ”)—itself inspired by Doug Stanton ’s book “Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan”—“12 Strong” eventually feels overlong and repetitive. And the impressive line-up of actors comprising the ensemble cast can only do so much with their thinly drawn characters.

Chris Hemsworth leads them all as Capt. Mitch Nelson, the head of a dozen Green Berets who were the first American troops to set foot in Afghanistan after 9/11. Among his men are the older and more experienced chief warrant officer, Hal Spencer ( Michael Shannon ); wisecracking Sam Diller ( Michael Pena ); and weapons expert Ben Milo (“ Moonlight ” star Trevante Rhodes ). Their orders come from the no-nonsense Col. Mulholland ( William Fichtner ) and the thoroughly unamused Lt. Col. Bowers (comedian Rob Riggle , a Marine Corps veteran himself in a rare dramatic role).

Their mission is to enter northern Afghanistan through Uzbekistan with the help of the Uzbek warlord General Dostum ( Navid Negahban ), who has his own reasons for taking on the Taliban. Together with Dostum and his men, Nelson and his team must capture the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a Taliban stronghold. But despite their extensive training and boundless bravery, the American troops don’t realize they’re going to have to navigate this unforgiving terrain—which notoriously has destroyed empires for centuries—on horseback. And they’ll have to do it before the winter freeze comes in three weeks.

It’s an amazing story but also an absurd sight: muscular soldiers strapped with high-tech gear and weaponry, galloping along on horses, facing down massive tanks and rocket launchers. Fuglsig depicts these showdowns in relentless, unflinching fashion. He’s methodical but he finds room for swagger, especially when it comes to Hemsworth’s character.

One of the more compelling dynamics here is the way everyone underestimates Nelson, which isn’t what you’d ordinarily expect in a character the hunky Hemsworth plays. Here, he’s too pretty, too young. He has too little field experience and constantly has to prove himself. And this is especially true within the ever-evolving relationship between Nelson and the mystically wise Dostum. Negahban is formidable but he brings a much-needed calm to the tense proceedings.

Naturally, Hemsworth is up to the physical demands of the role—he is Thor, after all—but he never gets enough credit for his acting chops, both dramatic and comedic. He also has a nice buddy chemistry with both Shannon and Pena. But except for a sweet subplot involving Rhodes’ character, the remainder of the team barely registers. They are ideas; they are cogs.

Similarly, “12 Strong” as a whole isn’t terribly interested in going any deeper into the larger ramifications of the United States’ prolonged involvement in Afghanistan. That’s not its purpose, though, and that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to feel good, if only for a little while, about some men who were great.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

Wicked Little Letters

Sheila o'malley.

Irena's Vow

Chicken for Linda!

Robert daniels.

Under the Bridge

Cristina escobar.

The People's Joker

Clint worthington.

Brian Tallerico

Film credits.

12 Strong (2018)

Rated R for war violence and language throughout.

130 minutes

Chris Hemsworth as Captain Mitch Nelson

Michael Shannon as Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer

Michael Peña as Sgt First Class Sam Diller

Elsa Pataky as Mitch's Wife

Trevante Rhodes as Sgt First Class Ben Milo

Ben O'Toole as Scott Black

Navid Negahban as General Dostum

Fahim Fazli as Commander Khaled

Austin Hébert as Sgt First Class Pat Essex

• Nicolai Fuglsig

Writer (book)

• Doug Stanton
• Peter Craig

Cinematographer

• Rasmus Videbæk
• Lisa Lassek
• Lorne Balfe

Latest blog posts

A New Skin: Losing Control of Your Body in the 2020s

Ebertfest 2024 Announces Full Lineup, With Guests Including Eric Roberts, Mariel Hemingway, Larry Karaszewski, and More

How Do You Live: On the Power of Edson Oda’s Nine Days

Eleanor Coppola Was the Guardian Angel of Apocalypse Now

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Civil War Link to Civil War
• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• Scoop Link to Scoop

New TV Tonight

• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Under the Bridge: Season 1
• Conan O'Brien Must Go: Season 1
• Our Living World: Season 1
• The Spiderwick Chronicles: Season 1
• Orlando Bloom: To the Edge: Season 1
• The Circle: Season 6
• Dinner with the Parents: Season 1
• Jane: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Fallout: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• The Sympathizer: Season 1 Link to The Sympathizer: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

MGM: 100 Years, 100 Essential Movies

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

Immaculate Director Michael Mohan’s Five Favorite Horror Films

Fallout : What to Expect in Season 2

• Trending on RT
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
• Play Movie Trivia
• Baby Reindeer

12 Strong Reviews

Has a memorable story to tell but does it in an unmemorable way.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Aug 24, 2021

For every war cliché there is another scene that offers insight into the difficult and confounding task the men have ahead of them.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 28, 2021

It's more of a series of set pieces tenuously strung together . . . the political blinders it has on regarding its events' consequences speak to the movie's lack of intention.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 23, 2020

The production behind this had the best intention to honor these men and what they did, but I couldn't shake the notion that the film treated the action like a kid playing in a sandbox.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 17, 2020

12 Strong is a thinking-person's war story, one in which deductive and clever reasoning wins the day as often as who has the most bullets and air support. This is something quite different couched in a familiar cloak, and the results are impressive.

Full Review | May 27, 2020

From its hokey moments of "character building" to its sharply shot, but distinctly un-cinematic action sequences, 12 Strong feels very much like one long video game cut-scene.

Full Review | Mar 23, 2020

Unfortunately the movie's central philosophical conflict, between the captain and an Afghan warlord, features dialogue like "Your mission will fail because you fear death."

Full Review | Mar 10, 2020

The mechanics of colonial propaganda are particularly clear in "12 Strong," which is unabashedly patriotic and militaristic.

Full Review | Aug 29, 2019

While some will say it glamorizes war, it is nonetheless entertaining and informative.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 31, 2019

Their blurred protagonists do not manage to generate any empathy, and their treatment of the Afghan conflict turns out to be clumsy and simplistic. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jul 20, 2019

12 Strong devolves a very real story into a professional wrestling spectacle.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 17, 2019

Pure propaganda, and not particularly good propaganda at that.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 3, 2019

Informative and educational movie that drags, especially at the beginning, making it a film that is not re-watchable.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | May 8, 2019

A sprawling and leaden Bruckheimer monster.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 21, 2019

Fuglsig stretches out 12 Strong unnecessarily yet, till you are ready to bolt when it's finally over.

Full Review | Feb 15, 2019

12 Strong may not exactly be what we need, but it does seem to be what audiences desperately want. I just wish 12 Strong was brave enough to take a cue from the real-life heroes they're honoring and give us something better.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 29, 2019

Too many explosions, not enough character.

Full Review | Jan 19, 2019

With a plodding, dragged out story and runtime, 12 Strong isn't quite as strong as it should be.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 4, 2018

A commendable exploration of heroism in the post 9/11 world.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4 | Nov 19, 2018

The story is compelling, and the movie overall was entertaining to watch, but to me, it wasn't as memorable as previous war films...

Full Review | Nov 12, 2018

Advertisement

Supported by

Review: ‘12 Strong’ Believes in the Brotherhood of Battle

• Share full article

By Manohla Dargis

• Jan. 18, 2018

Chris Hemsworth firing a carbine while riding tall and proud in the saddle — that image more or less captures what you need to know about “12 Strong,” a movie with a veneer of seriousness and the slam-bam-boom soul of a Jerry Bruckheimer production. It opens under a pall on the morning of Sept. 11. Mitch Nelson (Mr. Hemsworth), a Special Forces officer, has just moved into a new home with his family and is watching the twin towers burn on TV. Soon, he and his team are choking on dust in Afghanistan , where references to the Alamo mix with the spirit of John Wayne jingoism.

There’s a story here, but first and foremost there are men. Tough, hard-bodied, soulful men, the kind who, in volcanic frustration, will slam hands as big as Easter hams against walls and who can — as Mitch does while idling in a military office — flip over a desk as lightly as if he were chucking a toy truck. Other hard-bodied men see his hurt, but as strong, discreet brothers they, too, keep their feelings in check. “Nice kill,” a comrade archly says, surveying the ruins of Mitch’s desk. “12 Strong” has just begun, but its world of masculine pain, private anguish and commitment to violence is already firmly in place.

The movie shifts into a steady action groove once the not especially dirty dozen lands in Afghanistan. There, the Americans warily join forces with General Dostum (a charismatic Navid Negahban), a warlord who they hope will join them in their fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Dostum views Mitch with skepticism and favors his subordinate, Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon). Hal, Dostum notes approvingly, has “killer eyes,” which Mr. Shannon certainly doesn’t disprove. Once Team USA and Team Afghan stop glowering and growling at each other, a posse hits the trail on horseback and Dostum and Mitch settle into a mentor-student bond that evokes the Karate Kid and the road to wisdom.

For devotees of cinematic blowouts and dedicated students of screen masculinity (like me), “12 Strong” is premium, Grade A catnip. Directed by the newcomer Nicolai Fuglsig, it is generally watchable, if unsurprisingly easier on the eyes than on the ears or brain. It’s well stocked with dependable actors and ornamented with swooping aerial shots of the severely beautiful landscape. (New Mexico stands in for Afghanistan.) There are pretty horses, echoes of heroic westerns and a halfhearted rendition — pitched between sincerity and irony — of “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” the gung-ho anthem that hit the charts in 1966 , when the United States was on its way to losing the war in Vietnam.

Winning and losing aren’t the point of “12 Strong,” and neither are politics, the present, the past, the United States or Afghanistan. Its reason for being is brotherhood, as belief and way of life. It sings of how men become warriors and of how they can reach across seemingly impossible divides to clasp hands and lock eyes before blowing their mutual enemy to pieces. And while Sept. 11 gives Mitch and his men their mission, the locals aren’t entirely ignored, not exactly. The motto of the Special Forces is “To Free the Oppressed,” a creed the movie underscores, most forcefully in a scene of a Taliban leader, Mullah Razzan (Numan Acar), terrorizing a family that has educated its daughters.

Still, while the movie largely elides overt politics and policies, both domestic and foreign, they are inextricably embedded in every single narrative turn, each word and image. (They’re also embedded in the credits: Like other movies of this type, “12 Strong” received technical support from the American military.) Written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig — and adapted from Doug Stanton’s well-received nonfiction book “ Horse Soldiers ” (2009) — the movie takes for granted that military action in Afghanistan is essential and justified. The filmmakers make that case mostly with images of Sept. 11 — cut to a man’s clenching fist — and through scenes and stories of the Taliban’s violence.

The periodic references to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan suggest that the larger picture is, well, awfully complicated. Real complications, though, are for other movies. We’re now almost 17 years into the war of Afghanistan, the longest in American history. That’s a deeply sobering marker but one that has no place in “12 Strong,” which starts as a recruitment ad before settling into a tense, unremittingly brutal combat movie. Mr. Fuglsig’s contribution to this basically well-coordinated mayhem — which includes fiery explosions, a Bruckheimer trademark — is hard to gauge. It also scarcely matters when bodies rise and fall to a beat as natural as our circadian rhythms.

12 Strong Rated R for war carnage. Running time: 2 hours 9 minutes.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Even before his new film “Civil War” was released, the writer-director Alex Garland faced controversy over his vision of a divided America  with Texas and California as allies.

Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions,” a comedy about millennials weathering the early days of the pandemic , will ask audiences to return to a time that many people would rather forget.

“Fallout,” TV’s latest big-ticket video game adaptation, takes a satirical, self-aware approach to the End Times .

“Sasquatch Sunset” follows the creatures as they go about their lives. We had so many questions. The film’s cast and crew had answers .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Film Review: ‘12 Strong’

Chris Hemsworth leads a Special Forces unit in Afghanistan in the weeks after 9/11. But can an "authentic" war drama be a facile action movie?

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

• ‘Abigail’ Review: A Remake of ‘Dracula’s Daughter’ Turns Into a Brutally Monotonous Genre Mashup 10 hours ago
• Why I Wasn’t Scared by ‘Civil War’ 4 days ago
• ‘Sting’ Review: A Giant Spider Grows in Brooklyn in a Knowingly Cheeseball Indie Horror Trifle 7 days ago

Sixteen years after U.S. troops landed in Afghanistan, the conflict there might be summed up as a violent holding pattern, or a stalemate we’re still mired in, or — if you squint hard enough — a slow-motion qualified success. But only the producer Jerry Bruckheimer would seek to portray it as a victory decisive enough to be called a triumph of the kick-ass American spirit.

“ 12 Strong ,” one of those rare “serious” Bruckheimer productions, tells the story of the first U.S. soldiers to land in Afghanistan in the days after 9/11: the members of ODA 595, an elite Special Forces unit that was ordered to link up with a local warlord and fight its way, village by village, to the Taliban stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif (the country’s fourth largest city). There, they would theoretically gut the Taliban’s nexus of power and topple the ability of Afghanistan to serve as a training ground for Al Qaeda troops.

Chris Hemsworth , in thatchy dark hair and a G.I. Joe scruff, speaking in a manly low voice of superstar resolve, plays the team’s captain, Mitch Nelson, who has never been in combat before. Yet he’s the kind of gung-ho volunteer who’s got sharpshooting in his blood. He may not have “killer eyes” (the warlord’s description of Michael Shannon ‘s Chief Warrant Officer), but he’s got a killer heart. A family man who only recently arranged to become a desk jockey, Nelson, as the movie presents it, gets slapped awake by 9/11 and fights the bureaucracy to win his shot on the ground. As soon as he arrives, he’s a master of everything: the weather patterns, how to map bombing coordinates for the B-52s that are going to blow Taliban-infested villages into the afterlife, and — of course — how to ride into battle on a horse while blasting a machine gun like a badass medieval knight.

Popular on Variety

The American soldiers of ODA 595 defeated the Taliban fighters they were up against, scoring an early blow against the forces of Islamic terrorism. Yet the Taliban, the last time anyone checked, hasn’t exactly jumped ship, and the whole issue of what we’ve accomplished in Afghanistan — forcing the enemy, to a degree, to go elsewhere — remains more than a little murky. “12 Strong,” though, builds a hermetic screen around the first three weeks of the conflict, holding it up to the light as if to say, “Don’t believe the nay-sayers! American heroism still rocks!” I believe that American heroism still does, but that doesn’t make “12 Strong” an illuminating, or overly exciting, war film. It’s more like cheerleading with ballistics. On its own terms, the film is watchable enough, but it’s blunt and stolid and under-characterized, and at 130 minutes it plods.

If there’s anything that great war films like “Saving Private Ryan” or “The Hurt Locker” have taught us, it’s that victory in combat doesn’t look like a street-fight action movie set in a wilderness hellhole. But “12 Strong” is a war film that wants you to feel good about the invincibility of American power. The film is built like a grungy combat video game, with each village treated like a new level and the agony of battle taking a backseat to the pounding thrill of force. The villain is a dastardly Taliban commander (Said Taghmaoui) who looks like a ratty guttersnipe Frank Zappa in black rags; he’s introduced executing a woman in front of her two tearful daughters for the crime of reading. That’s not an exaggeration of Taliban cruelty, but the way the film uses this brute to personify evil is at once reductive and uninteresting. (He’s scary, though not as scary as William Fichtner as a shaven-headed colonel who glowers like Gollum. )

That said, “12 Strong” is only mildly demagogic. It salutes the freedom fighters of Afghanistan, building token hints of drama around the relationship between Capt. Nelson and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban), the Northern Alliance warlord he fights alongside but clashes with when it comes to military strategy. The two have something to teach each other, and I kept thinking how much this relationship would have popped in a David Lean film. But the script of “12 Strong,” written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig (adapting the 2009 bestseller “Horse Soldiers”), is pretty bare bones. When the general accuses Capt. Nelson of being a soldier and not a warrior, we’re eager to see Nelson grow into one, but the film barely bothers to demonstrate the difference.

The novelty that’s the chief selling point of “12 Strong” — the fact that the members of ODA 595 rode horses to make it through the treacherous terrain — doesn’t amount to very much; they all seem to know how, and it’s not as if contemporary soldiers on horseback look any more exotic than cowboys and Indians. The film’s most impressive aspect is its arid landscapes. “12 Strong” was shot in New Mexico, with the mountains there doubling for Afghanistan’s famously craggy and forbidding tableaux, and the director, Nicolai Fuglsig, and cinematographer, Rasmus Videbaek, use the locations to conjure what it might look like to wage war in an endless sprawling no-man’s land.

Visually, the terrain comes close to raising an existential question: What, exactly, are we fighting for in Afghanistan? The film slips in the pointed and now rather outdated argument that if the Taliban can be defeated, and Afghanistan eliminated as an Al Qaeda base, then there will be no more attacks like 9/11. Well, there haven’t been…but is that the reason why? “12 Strong” lends a shape of supreme purpose to a conflict that is still in search of one.

Reviewed at Warner Bros., New York, Jan. 16, 2018. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 130 MIN.

• Production: A Warner Bros. release of an Alcon Entertainment, Black Label Media, Jerry Bruckheimer Films production. Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill. Executive producers: Yale Badik, Marty Funkhouser, Garrett Grant, Val Hill, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Chad Oman, Ellen H. Schwartz, Doug Stanton, Mike Stenson.
• Crew: Director: Nicolai Fuglsig. Screenplay: Ted Tally, Peter Craig. Camera (color, widescreen): Rasmus Videbaek. Editor: Lisa Lassek.
• With: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Elsa Pataky, William Fichtner, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, Austin Stowell, Ben O’Toole, Austin Hébert.

More From Our Brands

Tessa thompson brings night-blooming romance to arooj atfab’s ‘raat ki rani’ video, astronaut richard gordon’s ultra-rare gold omega speedmaster is up for grabs, aaron judge’s big toe trouble stubs yankees’ hot start, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, jimmy kimmel says he ‘might’ host 2025 oscars in response to donald trump rant, verify it's you, please log in.

Screen Rant

12 strong review: a well-intentioned tribute to real heroes.

12 Strong works as a tribute to the real-life American heroes who lived it, but is an overall generic war film without much substance.

12 Strong works as a tribute to the real-life American heroes who lived it, but is an overall generic war film without much substance.

The latest film from veteran Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer,  12 Strong marks the feature film debut for director Nicolai Fuglsig. It tells the true story of a declassified mission from the outset of America's war on terror, in which a small group of soldiers were among the first deployed to Afghanistan to fight back against the Taliban. Its primary aspiration is to raise awareness of this incredible moment in history by giving these brave men a moment in the spotlight for all to see. On that front, the film is moderately successful in its goals, but doesn't reinvent the wheel.  12 Strong works as a tribute to the real-life American heroes who lived it, but is an overall generic war film without much substance.

12 Strong begins on September 11, 2001, as America mourns the horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Despite filing for a cushy desk job so he could stay close to his family, Alpha 595 captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) requests to be reinstated as his team's leader so he can go overseas to defend the United States. Colonel Max Bowers (Rob Riggle) agrees to send the group out, and Mitch is joined by comrades such as Chief Cal Spencer (Michael Shannon), Sergeant Sam Diller (Michael Peña), and Sergeant Ben Milo (Trevante Rhodes) to go to Afghanistan.

There, Mitch and his team are tasked with rendezvousing with the Northern Alliance's General Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban), with the two leaders joining forces to deal the Taliban a major blow. Their primary mission is to assume control of the Afghan city Mazar-i-Sharif, hoping to accomplish their objective before the weather makes conditions unbearable. Meanwhile, Nelson and Dostum's contrasting personalities threaten to derail the mission, forcing the two to try to overcome their differences for the greater good.

The film is a mixed bag in regards to its execution. On the positive side of the spectrum, Fuglsig does a good job of portraying the camaraderie and sense of brotherhood that exists between military members, as the main cast have chemistry with each other that shines through on occasion. Whether the ensemble is joking with each other while on base or trying to survive together in the heat of combat, viewers get the sense that this is a cohesive team with years of experience. There is also ample time dedicated to showcasing the relationship between Nelson and Dostum, which serves as the film's primary subplot. Those two characters share a decent amount of screen time with a nice arc as they learn valuable lessons about each other. Their dynamic may not be the most emotionally-rewarding this genre has seen, but it works for  12 Strong and pays off.

Unfortunately, Ted Tally and Peter Craig's script has various shortcomings that prevent  12 Strong from reaching its full potential. Several of the characters are shortchanged and ultimately come across as two-dimensional individuals whose only real purpose is to flesh out the team. There are attempts to give some of the soldiers more to do (see: Milo's evolving friendship with his child "shadow"), but most of these sadly ring hollow due to insufficient characterization. The pair also have a hard time avoiding classic war movie clichés (concerned families back home, on-the-nose thematic dialogue) that are designed to tug at the heartstrings and not much else.  12 Strong deserves credit for striving to reach the bar set by its predecessors, but it falls a little short.

As one might expect, first-time director Fuglsig isn't seamless as the helmsman. Where he struggles most is with pacing, as the film arguably overstays its welcome with a runtime of 130 minutes. While the story itself is fascinating and character motivations clear, the lack of emotional investment in many of the individuals can make it drag at points. The action sequences Fuglsig stages are adequate - in that they firmly establish how overmatched the American soldiers are - but they do grow repetitive as the film marches on and none of them truly stand out as  the battle audiences will remember long after the movie is over. Still, the director has a steady hand at crafting set pieces and will hopefully improve as his career progresses.

In regards to the performances, Hemsworth makes for a solid lead as Mitch, portraying the soldier as a well-meaning hero eager to go head-first into danger. While this isn't the most challenging dramatic role the actor has played, his screen presence and likability are more than enough to have audiences root for him - especially when the going gets tough. Hemsworth is complemented by Negahaban as Dostum, playing an effective riff on the mentor/mentee relationship. Their interactions can be tense or insightful depending on the situation, and credit goes to Hemsworth and Negahban for pulling it off. Michael Shannon has the most substantial part of the supporting players, and he is able to ground Spencer with the gravitas viewers have come to expect from the actor. However, much like the others on Mitch's team, there isn't a whole lot for Shannon to do because of how his role is written.

For January releases,  12 Strong is far from the worst of the bunch, but it isn't exactly great, either. Fuglsig's intentions are clearly in the right place, celebrating the incredible accomplishments of its subjects with good work from his cast. However,  12 Strong comes up short of being the rousing commemoration it wants to be and will have a familiar feel to anyone with passing knowledge of earlier films of its nature. The script favors a standard narrative instead of something that digs a little deeper, meaning viewers who aren't already interested in the material won't be missing much if they choose to skip it. But for those in the mood for a decently-made war film,  12 Strong could be worth checking out in theaters.

12 Strong is now playing in U.S. theaters. It runs 130 minutes and is rated R for war violence and language throughout.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments!

Key Release Dates

12 Strong (2018)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

12 Strong Review

26 Jan 2018

12 Strong: The Declassified True Story Of The Horse Soldiers

“Five weeks ago, 19 men attacked our country,” rasps William Fichtner ’s chrome-domed army colonel, early on in this Jerry Bruckheimer -produced war drama. “The 12 of you will be the first ones to fight back.” It’s a line that acts as a neat summary of, not just 12 Strong ’s plot, but the raw desire for vengeance that propels much of its pulsating action.

But it’s also a moment that — in its clanking directness — gives you a decent primer about what to expect across this film’s 130-minute running time. Although robustly delivered and interestingly cast, this is a pretty straightforward tale of patriotic heroism in a world peopled by grizzled men who speak exclusively in bombastic poster taglines.

That said, it’s easy enough to see what attracted producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Danish first-time director Nicolai Fuglsig and some of its talented cast to the core story. Based on Doug Stanton’s non-fiction book about the real-life classified mission of the so-called "horse soldiers", 12 Strong quickly introduces us to Mitch Nelson ( Chris Hemsworth , getting maximum value from his Thor physique): a talented but desk-bound Special Forces captain who, after the fall of the World Trade Center, lobbies to be sent to Afghanistan.

His job will be to lead the customary ragtag team — a dirty desert dozen including Michael Shannon ’s loyal lieutenant and Michael Peña ’s wisecracking former teacher — on a daring quest to capture a pivotal Taliban stronghold. It’s here that (after early scenes featuring tearful, underwritten wives) the film really gets going. The quiet details of life “in country” (wedding rings sadly put in ziplock bags, macho jokes around makeshift gym equipment) are vividly drawn and Nelson’s tense, uneasy alliance with an inscrutable Afghan army general (Navid Negahban) is deftly played.

What’s more, Fuglsig leans into the fact that — at the instruction of their local allies — these modern military troops make their way on horseback. There are Sergio Leone-ish gun battles and artful shots of riderless horses galloping past scorched tanks; visual juxtapositions that make a powerful (if ultimately belaboured) point about the perpetual, timeless nature of the Afghan conflict.

Peña keeps things ticking along with expertly delivered dark gags (“That’s all?” he says, after being informed of the $100,000 bounty on their heads) and Hemsworth — even as he effortfully dials down his goofball tendencies — is a capable, commanding presence. But any occasional hints at a film more interested in Nelson’s inner trauma — a kind of ‘12 Horsemen Of The Apocalypse Now ’ — are ultimately sidelined in favour of a tub-thumping, bipartisan celebration of square-jawed all-Americans vanquishing helpfully unambiguous villains.

Related Articles

Movies | 17 07 2018

Movies | 04 02 2018

Movies | 28 01 2018

Movies | 21 01 2018

Movies | 22 11 2017

Movies | 19 10 2017

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• January 19, 2018
• Chris Hemsworth as Capt. Mitch Nelson; Michael Shannon as Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer; Navid Negahban as Gen. Dostum; Michael Peña as Sgt. First Class Sam Diller; Rob Riggle as Col. Max Bowers; Trevante Rhodes as Sgt. First Class Ben Milo

Home Release Date

• May 1, 2018
• Nicolai Fuglsig

Distributor

• Warner Bros.

Movie Review

It’s called the “Graveyard of Empires,” and for good reason. The dry, mountainous, untamed and untamable land known now as Afghanistan baffled Alexander the Great. It brought the British Empire to its knees at its Victorian peak. The Soviet Union sought to conquer Afghanistan; some say that Afghanistan brought down the Soviets instead.

Now another country wants a crack at Afghanistan—not to take it, but to free it.

It’s the fall of 2001, and the wreckage of New York’s World Trade Center is still smoldering. The terrorist network Al Qaeda takes credit for the attack. It’s widely believed the group’s leaders are operating in the wild, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, sheltered by the country’s extremist Taliban regime.

Afghanistan is untamed and perhaps untamable, perhaps even within its own borders. Yes, The Taliban says it’s in control, but a bevy of warlords disputes that claim. The country wavers between Islamic Sharia Law and utter lawlessness. And that offers a bit of an opening for the United States military, which is eager to prevent another terrorist attack on American soil.

“We’ll be in this fight boys,” says Capt. Mitch Nelson. “Mark my words.”

Mitch, technically, shouldn’t be in any fight. He recently accepted a desk job—a better, safer spot to care for his wife and kids. His Special Forces team was being reassigned. But when he watched the towers go down in New York, Mitch’s plans changed. Soon, he and his men find a way to re-band and head to Afghanistan. Their assignment: to seek out and partner with Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a warlord who fights the Taliban in Afghanistan’s barren mountains.

Al Qaeda delivered a devastating blow to America on 9/11. Mitch and his men, a commander tells him, “will be the first ones to fight back.”

But it won’t be easy. These 12 men will face a fighting force of thousands, supported by tanks and rockets. Dostum’s forces number only a few hundred. Tanks? Dostum has no tanks, only horses—hardly the sort of mounts made for success in modern warfare.

Then, of course, Mitch and his men will have to navigate the complicated minefield of alliances and rivalries that exist in Afghanistan: warlords who hate the Taliban and who hate each other nearly as much.

Graveyard of empires? Yes, Afghanistan has earned that title. But Mitch and his men have no ambition to overturn two thousand years of history. They merely want to do their jobs and kick the Taliban in the teeth, all the while praying that Afghanistan doesn’t become their graveyard, too.

Positive Elements

12 Strong is based on an actual American military operation that has only recently been declassified. For those with a yen for heroic military personnel who selflessly and sacrificially perform their duties, this film has a lot to offer. (That, and lots of explosions.)

Mitch and his squadron know they’re putting themselves at risk of serious harm, of course. That’s an inescapable part of their job. But they believe that what they’re doing will protect the homes and people they love. We hear repeatedly that taking the fight to Al Qaeda and the Taliban is the only way to prevent another tragic attack on U.S. soil.

We see some of the families they’re leaving behind, which gives us a sense of the sacrifice made by their spouses and children, too. But not all families take news of the mission well: Hal Spencer, the team’s Chief Warrant Officer, tells his son that he loves him before he goes. The boy, who’s perhaps in his early teens, simply turns away without saying a word—a starkly realistic portrait of what can happen in some military families.

But most of the families accept the nature of the job, dealing with the endemic fear and loss as well as they can. Mitch’s wife gives him an order: “I don’t care how long you’re gone. As long as you come back.” Mitch makes her a promise: He will come back, and he vows to bring the rest of the men under his authority home, too. It’s a tricky promise to make, given the circumstances, but it’s meant sincerely.

Spiritual Elements

Afghanistan’s Taliban adheres to an extreme form of Islamic law, and we see evidence of that extremism in one town controlled by the organization: A black-clad man in a position of authority quizzes a handful of little girls about their level of education as females. A woman, possibly the girls’ mother, kneels nearby. When he coaxes out the correct spelling of the word “giraffe” from one and deduces that another knows how to multiply, he executes the mother—despite her appeals to save her “in the name of God”—reminding the surrounding throng that no girl should be educated beyond the age of 8 as others shout, “God is great!” We also see other women in burqas.

Through Dostum, the film offers another view of faith. The Afghan warlord tells Mitch that while Mitch has many people over him, Dostum is governed only by God. He reminds Mitch that the Americans have good homes and lives to protect. For those in Afghanistan, however, their difficult lives make the Islamic afterlife look more attractive—which in turn makes them more willing to die to achieve it.

The American brass sends Mitch a variety of gifts to grease the wheels of partnership with any warlords they might encounter. When a CIA operative sees a bottle of vodka among the gifts, he quips, “That’ll go over great in a Muslim country.” (The religion forbids partaking of any alcoholic drinks.)

When Mitch’s wife wants Mitch to promise her that he’ll come back home safely, he initially refuses, saying that it’s “bad luck.”

Sexual Content

Sgt. Sam Diller wants to have sex with his wife before leaving for Afghanistan, making a crass suggestion about what he’s got in mind. His wife, though, refuses. “Holding out is the only way I can guarantee you’ll come back to me,” she tells him.

A member of Mitch’s team views a Taliban video of a woman being executed for getting pregnant out of wedlock.

Violent Content

When Mitch and Dostum meet, Dostum initially refuses to talk with Mitch because, he says, Mitch lacks “killer eyes.” The warlord can see at a glance that Mitch hasn’t killed anyone. Mitch rectifies that many times before this movie is through.

We see plenty of violence and blood in this war movie. Countless people fall down dead, most of them shot. While many of the deaths are relatively bloodless, others come with an accompanying splash of blood. Some combatants are blown up by grenades or rockets.

One suicide bomber kills himself and several others with a massive explosion: We see what appear to be bloody body parts scattered around the blast zone. One man suffers a terrible injury, described as a “sucking chest wound.” We see other injuries, too; one man frantically tries to revive another, his mouth stained in blood. We don’t see much of the wound, but a soldier sticks his hand into the man’s uniform and pulls it out, covered in blood. Explosions send horses and men flying. In the aftermath of a battle, we see bodies of both strewn everywhere. Explosions and gunfire riddle the film.

A woman is executed in a village square. Before she’s killed, a man pulls off the burqa covering she wore on her head, revealing that she’d been cruelly beaten already; her face is bloody and bruised. Someone executes her with a bullet to the head—accompanied by a splash of blood—and her body lies lifeless in the square, her eyes staring at nothing, as her children wail in the background.

Mitch’s team members tackle a pair of gun-toting men, being unsure of whether they are friends or foes. And indeed, it can be very difficult to tell in Afghanistan: Mitch and his team learn that each of them has a bounty on his head from the Taliban—$100,000 for one of their dead bodies, $50,000 for a bloodied uniform. (“That’s it?” one exclaims.)

We see news footage from 9/11 as well as other terrorist attacks.

Crude or Profane Language

Nearly 45 f-words and about 25 s-words. Other profanities include “a–,” “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s name is misused more than 15 times, most with the word “d–n” connected. Jesus’ name is abused 10 times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Mitch gives Dostum a bottle of vodka as a gift. As mentioned in spiritual content, it’s an iffy gift. But Dostum accepts it gratefully and drinks straight from the bottle—having, it would seem, some experience in quaffing alcohol.

Other Negative Elements

Ben, a member of Mitch’s force, bristles at a kid in Dostum’s posse who perpetually follows him around—even eyeing him as Ben urinates. (Ben learns that because of the bounties placed on the Americans, Dostum has each of the men guarded: The boy is Ben’s bodyguard.)

Mitch Nelson may be the leader of his 12-man team, but in many ways he’s one of its least experienced members. He’s never killed a man before arriving in Afghanistan. And when he does so during a bloody skirmish, the experience rocks him.

One of his men sidles over to him. He tells Mitch that every now and again, he’s met people in the military who seems unfazed by the bloody work they must do. They kill with nary a blink. The solider says that once upon a time, he envied such men. Now he doesn’t. He welcomes the complex feelings that come with a kill now. “That’s the thing that reminds us that we’re humans,” he says.

I had a chance to talk with Mark Nutsch and Bob Pennington, soldiers on whom the characters Mitch Nelson (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon) were based. According to Pennington, 12 Strong does an accurate job of “depicting what a Special Forces team is all about.” While the movie takes some liberty with some dramatic details, Pennington said that the feelings of isolation, and the stress and fear that families left behind feel, are spot on in this film.

12 Strong is a previously classified true story populated by heroes. And while it does indeed remind us that war is a bloody, brutal business, it insists that it’s necessary business, too. The lives spent on the battlefield may well save others back home.

Nutsch and Pennington believe 12 Strong reflects the reality they saw—not in every detail, but in feel. Indeed, reality was probably quite a bit worse: More bloody, more profane. I know they’re right. But that doesn’t make 12 Strong any easier to watch. The content here, just like the story, speaks for itself.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

Irena’s Vow

Dune: Part Two

Sasquatch Sunset

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

‘12 Strong’ Review: Winning the Battles but Losing the War

As America lurches into its 16th year of fighting in Afghanistan, a movie like ‘12 Strong’ comes off as a well-intentioned but futile gesture.

I’m not really sure what the point of 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers is. On the surface, it seems to be a rah-rah true story of exceptional American soldiers teaming with Afghan fighters to score a crucial victory in the early days of the Afghanistan War. But as the War in Afghanistan drags into its 16th year with no end in sight or even parameters for victory, 12 Strong comes off blissfully unaware of how its heroic victories now seem like pyrrhic ones. Rather than illuminate a conflict that has engulfed our country for almost a generation, 12 Strong is content to be a third-rate action movie, wasting its talented cast in a well-intentioned but ultimately lackadaisical picture.

The day after 9/11, Captain Mitch Nelson ( Chris Hemsworth ) charges into his office and demands to be reunited with his team. After some assistance from his friend and Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer ( Michael Shannon ), Nelson, Spencer, and ten of their fellow soldiers, codenamed “Task Force Dagger”, head to Uzbekistan where they’re briefed on a mission of retaking a vital Taliban stronghold. Nelson’s mission is to meet up with rebel leader General Dostum ( Navid Negahban ), win his trust, and work with his forces to bring down the vital Taliban outpost at Mazar-i-Sharif.

For 12 Strong , the mission is the message, and Nicolai Fuglsig ’s movie never reaches further than “The good American soldiers fight with good Afghanistan soldiers to bring down the bad Taliban men.” Along the way, there are brief acknowledgements that Afghanistan is the “graveyard of empires” and that the war is far from over, but rather than consider the long-term ramifications, 12 Strong just wants the comfort of good guys versus bad guys on a battlefield. That’s not to diminish the real heroism and courage of the actual soldiers who fought, but it is a criticism against the limited scope of the story 12 Strong seeks to tell.

The only moments where 12 Strong becomes remotely interesting is when we get a glimpse of Dostum. In addition to Negahban’s calm, measured performance, we see a character with a rich backstory, someone who has been embroiled in conflict for pretty much his entire life, suffered personal losses, and understands the difference between a soldier and a warrior. But is all too often the case in these tired narratives, the native character is pushed into a supporting role so that the American (who is almost always a white guy) can learn a valuable lesson and return a similar lesson to that supporting character.

In the case of 12 Strong , we get Mitch Nelson, and Hemsworth is…fine. It’s kind of remarkable to see how well Hemsworth succeeds when given a well-rounded character like in Thor: Ragnarok to how much he becomes just another pretty face when playing the one-dimensional Nelson. There’s nothing to build on, so Hemsworth just plays the stoicism and charm of the leader without being able to really add any depth. His co-stars suffer a similar fate despite including great actors like Shannon, Michael Peña , Trevante Rhodes , and William Fichtner . 12 Strong isn’t hurting for talent; it’s hurting for a script that will make use of that talent.

Instead, it’s just another rote war movie that would rather be an action film rather than consider the weight of war, whether it’s this conflict or any conflict. Yes, there’s the stakes of “Will these men make it home alive?” but that’s the stakes in any war film, and one that becomes cheapened when more attention is paid to stunts with horses than any character development. The true story of the “horse soldiers” is remarkable, but the movie about them is sadly forgettable.

Movie review: The little-known story in ‘12 Strong’ is an excellent study of contemporary war

It’s early morning on Sept. 11, 2001. Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) has recently come home after a training mission in Kuwait. He’s hanging out with his family when live footage of the World Trade Center attack comes on a TV in the background. The scene switches to a short while later, and a group of soldiers in the midst of a rural training mission on American soil. They’re wondering why jet fighters are flying so low. Could it be part of a drill? That answer has already been shown in the first scene.

Captain Nelson had just been heading up the training of an elite team of Green Berets, but that group of men was disbanded when the exercises were completed. He’s been reassigned to a period of desk duty, all part of the job. But now that the world has suddenly changed, he wants back in, and he wants the same team. The catch: Though he was out in the field, he has no actual combat experience, and his commanding officer won’t give him the assignment.

Based on the once classified true events chronicled in the 2009 book “Horse Soldiers,” the film gives a look at the problems and disruption of being part of a military family, and what that can do to the spouses and kids of the men and women who are sent off to do battle. Then it tells what happened next.

On Oct. 16, Captain Nelson and his team, among them Chief Warrant Officer Hal; Spencer (Michael Shannon) and Sgt. First Class Sam Diller (Michael Pena) are indeed back together, in a plane heading to Afghanistan, one of many teams to make that flight.

They were told that Osama Bin Laden is the brains of the problem there, but the Taliban are the muscle. Their mission was to get up close and friendly with one of the local warlords — a powerful man named General Dostum (Navid Negahban) would be that contact — and under his guidance, make their way to Taliban-infested Mazar-e Sharif, the largest city in northern Afghanistan. Once they were close enough to get exact coordinates, they would call in for air strikes on the city.

Another catch: Only one of those Special Forces teams, consisting of 12 men, would be sent in. That was Captain Nelson’s team, all of whom were gung-ho to do it, even though they were aware that there would be no backup, no help for them if they got in trouble.

In a story filled with catches, the next significant one was that Captain Nelson and his Americans didn’t completely trust General Dostum and his Afghanis, and the feeling on Dostum’s side was mutual. The Americans knew they were fish out of water; Dostum’s main problem was that Captain Nelson didn’t have “killer eyes.” Their shared mistrust becomes one of the film’s motifs, and adds to the already constant tension. You have to wonder if that mistrust will ever have a chance of turning to mutual respect.

But there are many other things going on. The Taliban are presented as vicious thugs who have no second thoughts about killing their own people. The American forces are told that because of the terrain, the only way for them to get deep enough into Afghanistan is by horseback. Unfortunately, the only one of them with any riding experience is Captain Nelson.

For the most part, the film has more walking and talking and riding than action, until very realistic violence does break out in all of its horror. At one point there’s an amazing firefight in the mountains and on the ground, on foot, on horseback, and in tanks. At another, there are spectacular visuals from above of explosions down below. Close to the end, it all turns into a genuine war is hell scenario.

For those fans wondering about Chris Hemsworth’s capabilities beyond playing Thor, let it be said that he gives a strong and sturdy performance here, with no wisecracking. So, yes, he proves that he can also handle a leading role as a mere mortal.

— Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at [email protected].

“12 Strong”

Written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig; directed by Nicolai Fuglsig

With Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Navid Negahban

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Movie Reviews

12 Strong is a rousing post-9/11 war movie, but not an introspective one: EW review

Senior Writer

In the last 16-plus years, there have been any number of movies tackling the American military response to 9/11. And they seem to fall into either one of two categories: shameless shoot-em-up videogames draped in patriotic bunting ( American Sniper , Act of Valor ) or more sober and nuanced examinations of what it means to fight ( Zero Dark Thirty , Restrepo ). For a movie produced by red-meat action maestro Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Thor himself as the face of camo-clad vengeance, 12 Strong somewhat surprisingly manages to fall (just barely) on the nuanced side of the scale. Even if you can feel the film’s director, Nicolai Fuglsig, battling with himself to get it there.

Based on a recently declassified true account first chronicled in Doug Stanton’s 2009 book Horse Soldiers , 12 Strong tells the story of ODA 595 — an elite Special Forces unit that was the first to fight in Afghanistan following 9/11. These Green Berets are comprised of 11 soldiers plus their leader, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth). Their mission, during which they operated under the code name Task Force Dagger, was to hook up with a Northern Alliance warlord (Navid Negahban) and battle their way to the Taliban stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif, calling in airstrikes until the Taliban (and the Al Qaeda forces they harbored) could be wiped off the map. The American troops were ridiculously outmanned as they fought on inhospitable and unfamiliar terrain, and were forced to travel and wage war on horseback. It was a suicide mission. They would likely never return. Or, at least, most of them.

The Australian Hemsworth may not be, literally speaking, an American. But with his broad shoulders, square granite jaw, and Marvel-approved Norse god physique, he’s the kind of red-white-and-blue fighting machine who, if we’re being honest, we want to see representing us on screen. Even if he doesn’t possess the “killer eyes” that the Northern Alliance leader sees in his second-in-command Cal Spencer (played by Michael Shannon, who seems to sport the eyes of a killer no matter what movie he’s in). The unit also includes Michael Peña and Moonlight ’s Trevante Rhodes, both of whom manage to bring some complexity, humor, and humanity to their characters when they’re not being fired upon.

The mission, of course, turns out to be a success. It’s hard to imagine Hollywood sinking millions into the story otherwise. And, for the most part, it’s a tense, action-packed war movie well-told. At least, as far as it goes. Fuglsig and his writers Ted Tally ( The Silence of the Lambs ) and Peter Craig ( The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 & 2 ) aren’t particularly interested in the bigger picture of what happened after the mission — the decade and a half of frustration, casualties, and ultimate stalemate that lay ahead. Its sole interest is an uncomplicated image of unfiltered American heroism. The fewer follow-up questions asked, the better. It’s a rousing movie, but not what you’d call a very introspective one. B-

Related Articles

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Good cast in violent, patriotic, fact-based war movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Some of the Taliban's worst aspects (like violent

Soldiers are courageous and behave reasonably. The

Pervasive war violence, including dismembered body

Nothing shown, but there are a few references to s

Language is frequent and includes variants of "f--

Brief scene of an Afghani warlord drinking vodka.

Parents need to know that 12 Strong may star Marvel hero Chris "Thor" Hemsworth, but it's not appropriate for the Avengers' younger fans. This is a violent war movie about U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan right after the 9/11 attacks. Expect some disturbing scenes -- such as the execution of a helpless woman who…

Positive Messages

Some of the Taliban's worst aspects (like violent suppression of female education) are decried. Movie's tone is clearly patriotic, but complexities of war are also hinted at: the emotional cost of taking a life, even in war, and the possibly hopeless circumstances of American involvement in Afghanistan. That helps it rise above any tendencies to de-humanize the enemy. Themes include teamwork, compassion, and communication.

Positive Role Models

Soldiers are courageous and behave reasonably. They don't use slurs to describe enemies, and they show concern at times for individual Afghani people.

Violence & Scariness

Pervasive war violence, including dismembered body parts and gore. Disturbing, execution-style killing of a woman who's been severely beaten. Weapons include machine guns and rocket launchers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Nothing shown, but there are a few references to sex (e.g., in one instance, a husband says to his wife, "Just the tip?").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is frequent and includes variants of "f--k," "s--t," "hell," "ass," "goddamn," "bitch," and "Jesus Christ," as well as occasional sexual references.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Brief scene of an Afghani warlord drinking vodka. Cigarette smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that 12 Strong may star Marvel hero Chris "Thor" Hemsworth , but it's not appropriate for the Avengers' younger fans. This is a violent war movie about U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan right after the 9/11 attacks. Expect some disturbing scenes -- such as the execution of a helpless woman who's been severely beaten -- as well as dismembered body parts and gore. There's also brief drinking and smoking, frequent strong language ("f--k," "s--t," and more), and a couple of sexual references. But it also offers themes of communication, compassion, and teamwork and looks beyond surface patriotism to the complexities of war, such as the emotional cost of taking a life. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (12)
• Kids say (9)

Based on 12 parent reviews

This is a mature movie rated R for a reason

For sure very good, what's the story.

In 12 STRONG, a Special Forces unit of 12 Americans (including soldiers played by Chris Hemsworth , Michael Shannon , Michael Peña , and Travante Rhodes of Moonlight ) is sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to assist a Northern Alliance general (Naveed Negahban). The team's overarching objective is to help take a Taliban stronghold city. To do so, they must overcome initial distrust between them and the general and navigate difficult country in which horses are the most practical form of travel. The unit's adventure is based on the now-declassified true story of the "horse soldiers" who represented America's first military response to the 9/11 attacks.

Is It Any Good?

This is a solid war movie that manages to be patriotic while at least scratching the surface of the complexities of American involvement in Afghanistan. The filmmakers behind 12 Strong make a good effort to establish what these soldiers have at stake at home, but the movie's focus is on the action and their experience in country, rather than on characterization. Luckily, the movie has a fine cast, led by Hemsworth and the always-excellent Shannon and Peña; they do enough to make us buy who they are. And Rhodes has a touching side story with an Afghan boy. The action is well-staged, and the story moves along at a good clip. We're always generally aware of the objectives and the dangers.

It can be unsettling to watch stories "based on" real events, especially those involving war. In virtually any big-screen adaptation, events and characters must be compressed. But in war movies, people's lives and deaths are at issue. And in a story spurred by the 9/11 attacks, there's a particular danger of extreme patriotism and the devaluing of human life. Fortunately, 12 Strong avoids much of that peril by staying tightly focused on the unit's mission. It avoids painting the Americans as too saintly -- though you do have to wonder how the Afghans might feel about being painted as secondary in the battles, especially in the climactic one. And it avoids taking a condescending view of the Afghan people, while simultaneously depicting some of the horrors of the Taliban regime. The movie also hints at the likely overall futility of extended U.S. involvement, as when one Afghan essentially says, "You're our allies today; you're our enemies tomorrow." The incredible feat these particular soldiers helped accomplish is a tale that should be told, even if the movie version is more competent than truly absorbing. Still, the story is intriguing (modern American soldiers ride into battle on horseback against machine guns and rocket launchers), and the performances are strong. Just don't expect it to make a deeply lasting impression.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the messages that war movies like 12 Strong send. Is this a patriotic film? Does it make war seem "cool"? Does it make it clear that human beings die -- and kill -- in war?

How accurate do you think this fact-based movie is? How could you find out more? Would it bother you if important details were changed or left out? Why do you think filmmakers might sometimes choose to tweak the facts?

How did the movie's violent scenes make you feel? Were they more or less upsetting than what you might see in a superhero/fantasy action movie? Why? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

How does the movie show the importance of communication , compassion , and teamwork ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 19, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : May 1, 2018
• Cast : Chris Hemsworth , Michael Shannon , Michael Pena
• Director : Nicolai Fuglsig
• Inclusion Information : Latino actors
• Studio : Warner Bros.
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Teamwork
• Run time : 130 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : war violence and language throughout
• Last updated : January 21, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

The Hurt Locker

American Sniper

Black Hawk Down

Best action movies for kids, world war ii books for kids, related topics.

• Communication

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• Tickets & Showtimes
• Trending on RT

Critics Consensus

12 strong is a little flimsy, plus, den of thieves and forever my girl don't fare any better, and three certified fresh awards contenders expand nationwide..

This weekend at the movies, we have a tribute to the heroism of some real-life soldiers ( 12 Strong , starring Chris Hemsworth  and Michael Shannon ), one cop standing between a pack of crooks and the Federal Reserve ( Den of Thieves , starring Gerard Butler  and Pablo Schreiber ), a country singer reconnecting with his jilted bride ( Forever My Girl , co-starring Alex Roe  and Jessica Rothe ), love in the Italian countryside ( Call Me by Your Name , starring Armie Hammer  and Timothée Chalamet ), a skating career gone brutally awry ( I, Tonya , starring  Margot Robbie  and  Sebastian Stan ), and a womanizing dressmaker who’s met his match ( Phantom Thread , starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps ). What are the critics saying?

12 Strong (2018) 50%

Den of Thieves (2018) 41%

Forever My Girl (2018) 24%

Call Me by Your Name (2017) 94%

I, Tonya (2017) 90%

Phantom Thread (2017) 91%

What’s New on TV

Black lightning: season 1 (2018) 96%.

Black Lightning doesn’t reinvent superhero TV, but it does give the genre a necessary jolt with real-world plots, scary new villains, and a star-making performance from Cress Williams .

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (2018) 88%

The Assassination of Versace  starts with a bang and unfurls slowly, moving backward through an intricate (and occasionally convoluted) murder mystery anchored by a career-defining performance from Darren Criss .

Also Opening This Week In Limited Release

• Mary and The Witch's Flower (2017) , the animated adventures of a young girl who stumbles upon a magical flower granting her special powers for a single night, is at 92 percent.
• The Road Movie (2016) , a compilation of Russian dashboard camera footage capturing outlandish accidents, is at 88 percent.
• Kangaroo (2018) , a documentary about the complicated — and often brutal — relationship between Australia and its signature marsupial, is at 86 percent.
• The Final Year (2017) , a documentary offering an inside look at the Obama administration’s foreign policy team during his final year in office, is at 83 percent.
• Small Town Crime (2017) , about an ex-cop who’s stirred back into action after he uncovers a killing and sets out to catch the guilty party, is at 80 percent.
• Mom and Dad (2017) , starring Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair in a dark comedy imagining a global outbreak that turns parents violently against their children, is at 75 percent.
• Beuys (2017) , a documentary about the life and work of artist Joseph Beuys, is at 71 percent.
• Mama Africa (2011) , a look at the social and musical legacy of singer Miriam Makeba, is at 60 percent.
• The Leisure Seeker (2017) , starring  Helen Mirren  and  Donald Sutherland  as a married couple who hit the road and head down the eastern seaboard, is at 32 percent.

Related News

All Margot Robbie Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

The Best and Worst Moms in Comic Book TV Shows

21st Century TV Drama Queens

More Critics Consensus

Eternals Is Underpowered

Venom: Let There Be Carnage Leans Hard Into the Ridiculous

Dear Evan Hansen Misses the High Note

Movie & TV News

Featured on rt.

MGM: 100 Years, 100 Essential Movies

April 17, 2024

Immaculate Director Michael Mohan’s Five Favorite Horror Films

April 16, 2024

Fallout : What to Expect in Season 2

20 Special Presentations and Guest Appearances to Check Out at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival

April 15, 2024

Top Headlines

• MGM: 100 Years, 100 Essential Movies –
• 25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming –
• 30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming –
• Nicolas Cage Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer –
• Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch –
• Best TV Shows of 2024: Best New Series to Watch Now –

'12 Strong' Review: A Capably Made But All-Too-Familiar War Movie

Two questions inevitably crop up as a movie based on a true story unfolds. First, how much of what's happening on screen is actually what happened in real life? Second, how much of what happened in real life can translate into something dramatically interesting? The new war film 12 Strong begins with a compelling enough hook, following a dozen U.S. soldiers who were the first men to attempt to take down the Taliban in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Unfortunately, while the real events indeed seem fascinating, they don't make for a compelling film.

Chris Hemsworth plays Mitch Nelson, a soldier who'd been transferred to desk duty in a Kentucky Army base in the days just before 9/11. Immediately after the attack, he convinces his superior ( Rob Riggle ) to let him get back in the field with his team, although he's never led them into active combat before. His fellow soldiers (played by, among many others, Michael Shannon , Michael Pena , and Trevante Rhodes ) believe in him unwaveringly, of course. However, as 12 Strong follows the team into the mountains of Afghanistan, Mitch is even able to bond with an Afghani general leading the local assault against the Taliban, though he and his fellow Americans struggle with traversing those mountains on horseback.

Horse riding aside, much of 12 Strong feels awfully familiar. There are the Americans' gradual but never-terribly-emphatic attempts to ingratiate themselves with the locals, like when Rhodes' character slowly befriends the young Afghani boy who tails him. There's a handful of brief moments meant to highlight the camaraderie between the dozen Americans, just as there are brief and wistful moments where they wonder if leaving behind their families to fight this war was the right thing to do. The good news is that Hemsworth, Pena, Shannon, and Rhodes are naturally charismatic enough to sell this overly familiar material (although casting a non-American actor to lead a movie so squarely about American soldiers seems...a bit weird). The bad news is that the script, by Ted Tally and Peter Craig , never tries to deliver anything but overly familiar material. What we know of these men, within the context of the film, is minimal at best; they are all heroic, but in a bland and generic sense in spite of the capable actors portraying them.

Director Nicolai Fuglsig , making his feature debut, does not slip into a choppy and incomprehensible style of action filmmaking, which is a welcome surprise. Fuglsig stages the various firefights between the American/Afghani and Taliban forces capably; also, a lot of the action seems to be practical, eschewing obvious or cartoonish green-screen or CGI. However, many of those firefights extend a minute or two more than they need to, expanding the film's length to more than 2 hours. In spite of the film focusing on 12 American soldiers (as well as their Uzbek comrade), 12 Strong is much more invested in the action than the people within those scenes.

This leads to another potentially unsolvable problem, which is that the Taliban is represented as a nearly faceless villain within the context of the film. On one hand, this makes some level of sense: 12 Strong takes place literally weeks after 9/11 from the perspective of Americans with barely any awareness of Afghanistan, its history and its people. On the other, it means that any time spent with the Taliban feels lazy and stereotypical, if not outright exploitative. The one scene where we watch a Taliban leader execute a defenseless woman for teaching her children basic math and reading is exceptionally gross and unnecessary. Knowing that the Taliban was responsible for 9/11 is enough reason, within the context of this film, to villainize them. Watching them execute innocent women is wildly unnecessary. At one point, Pena's character flinches while being presented with past footage of Taliban members stoning a woman, which is more than enough historical grounding to clarify how ruthless such terrorist groups are. Seeing as the Americans never come to the aid of the specific family whose matriarch is murdered, you could literally cut the vicious scene out of the film without changing anything but the runtime.

12 Strong skates on the surface from beginning to end. We get hints of the soldiers feeling slightly regretful that they leave their wives and children behind, just as there are hints that the wives and children aren't able to hide their heartbreak in spite of knowing what they signed up for, being married to soldiers or being fathered by them. The four big names in the film — though Rhodes gets far too little to do, unfortunately — are talented enough to not make this movie a total slog. However, they can't elevate an uninspired script too much, nor can the competently staged action sequences. 12 Strong suggests a fascinating true story, but one that did not have the potential for feature-film power. /Film Rating: 4 out of 10

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

12 Strong review – doped-up special forces action

T his fact-based war film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer is a slick and muscular production. But like so many muscles in Hollywood, it all feels rather fake: steroidal and pumped up rather than legitimately hard-won.

The story of the first special forces team to be deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11, if 12 Strong doesn’t exactly rewrite history, it certainly misleads by selective omission. Chris Hemsworth stars as the inexperienced captain of an elite team of soldiers who are choppered into Taliban-held territory to make contact with a warlord. Their mission is to call in airstrikes; but due to the terrain, the Americans find themselves fighting on horseback like the Afghan warriors they battle alongside.

The competent action sequences borrow the cinematic language of the western as well as the war movie – these are heavily armed cowboys, whooping their way into the fray, dodging missiles rather than arrows. Their triumph is America’s triumph. But large chunks of audience memory loss are required for it to be viewed as such.

• Action and adventure films
• The Observer
• Chris Hemsworth

Comments (…)

Most viewed.