As Osama Bin Laden attacks twin towers in New York, 12 American soldiers led by Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) go into uncharted territory of Afghanistan up against terrorist of high capacity. Once the soldiers reach there they realize that instead of vehicles they have horses to ride upon which is not common for an American soldier. Soldiers somehow manage to get on the horses and than make an uneasy partnership with northern alliance to take down Al-Qaida. Captain Mitch and his soldiers, by his won admission have been given the most important mission in the free world.
The concept of the story is based on real life incidents which has become almost a folklore in America. Hollywood has highlighted most of their wars in many films but 12 Strong is certainly one of the kind on the concept basis. Execution of the film is extremely cliched and looks the scenes that have been seen twenty times over. As the film starts characters of Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon have been given this extraordinary mission and they bid tough teary goodbyes to their families is literally ever soldier movie ever/never made.
There is no sense of uniqueness in the characters as they are just pure patriotic which makes them one dimensional. Whenever the film dwells into the study of a particular character it becomes so stereotypical by showing a tensed wife or a child who hates his father for being so brave. Action sequences of the war have not been tackled with any new tonality or sense of direction and looks lifted from Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now. Use of sound in he film to put audience in the action is so weak and so is the loose bound screenplay with repeated army dialogues. As a basic plot 12 strong is unique but the overall execution fails miserably and could be avoided at the cinemas.
