12 Strong is the true story of the first US soldiers in Afghanistan after 9/11. Partnered with a warlord who is part of the Northern Alliance, Captain Mitch Nelson and his team work to take down the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Navigating and fighting on horses, the 11 man team fight to successfully vindicate the loss of lives on 9/11.

Though it was interesting and the oddity of the fight made this story unique, it was rather underwhelming. I was expecting to leave feeling more patriotic after witnessing a story of pure heroism and patriotism. This is not to say that these men were not heroic and patriotic because they obviously were, but I wish that the movie would have talked more about what they were fighting for.

On another hand, the movie makes it seem as if we are the heroes of the war, but it is a war that we are still fighting 17 years later. 12 Strong portrays men like Donald Rumsfeld as heroes, when time has shown that this isn’t the case. This is the story of the early successes, but we must remember this movie in the context of time.

One of the highlights of the movie is the obvious camaraderie in Nelson’s team. Their love and support of each other is inspiring, especially as they all risk their lives to help each other and others outside of their group. However, the character development is rather shallow and much more work could have gone into showing how they each grow.

Overall, 12 Strong was a good movie, but not a great one. The story did not live up to its full potential. I would rate this movie a 3.5/5.