MEN VS. MANY
Wildly outnumbered U. S. troops do the impossible in the war story ‘ 12 Strong’
Call them the Squeaky Clean Dozen. The action- packed but overlong and clichériddled “12 Strong” gives the big- screen treatment to the incredibly brave Special Forces team that was dropped into Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/ 11 terrorist attacks and joined up with the Northern Alliance to take out some key Taliban and al- Qaida strongholds.
They literally rode into battle on horseback. The enemy had tanks. They were outnumbered 5,000- 1.
And yet — I guess this is a spoiler alert — they prevailed in dramatic fashion. But because of the covert nature of the operation, there were no parades or ceremonies for the soldiers when they returned home.
Thankfully, as the years have passed, their story has been told. There’s even a glorious, 18- foot bronze statue of a Green Beret soldier on horseback in Liberty Park, at the site of the attack on the Twin Towers.
Now comes the movie, directed with steady competence by Nicolai Fuglsig ( working from a screenplay by a team of writers that includes Ted Tally of “Silence of the Lambs” fame), starring Chris Hemsworth as the team leader, Capt. Mitch Nelson. ( Who better to mount a horse and lead a small but determined band of underdogs into battle than Thor himself, right?)
The fine cast of supporting players includes Michael Shannon, William Fichtner, Michael Pena, Rob Riggle and Trevante Rhodes. In time- honored war movie fashion, every character gets a least one showcase scene, whether it’s a backstory where the loving wife tells her man she knew what she signed up for, and he better come home safe once the job is done, or a moment of quiet drama between battles, where we learn what motivated someone to join the Army. That sort of thing.
If only the overly familiar elements stopped there.
Hemsworth’s Mitch is a rugged, well- respected soldier and leader of men, but he has recently taken a desk job so he can come home every night to his wife ( Elsa Pataky) and their adorable little daughter, Maddy ( Marie Wagenman). Of course Mitch refuses to stay on the sidelines after 9/ 11, even though his unit has been disbanded.
Shannon’s Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer has already put in for retirement — but he rips up the paperwork in front of his superior officer so he can join Mitch’s team.
Pena’s Sam Diller is a hothead and former history teacher who beat up a guy who was harassing his wife, and joined the military to avoid jail time. Fichtner’s Col. Mullholland and Riggle’s Col. Bowers exist mainly to shake their heads at Mitch’s