--- title: Review: "12 Strong" and Chris Hemsworth Lack in Momentum description: "12 Strong," based on Doug Stanton’s 2009 book "Horse Soldiers," never pulls off the momentum it needs to be a rousing film. canonical: https://time.com/5107493/chris-hemsworth-cant-give-12-strong-momentum-needed/ author: Stephanie Zacharek article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-18T11:50:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:46:33.624Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Even Chris Hemsworth Can’t Give ‘12 Strong’ the Momentum It Needs og:description: The horses are still nice to look at og:url: https://time.com/5107493/chris-hemsworth-cant-give-12-strong-momentum-needed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9fa94e6d400f7b/6988f893656a3f1889bd3339/12-strong-quite-strong-enough.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: 12-strong-quite-strong-enough og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Even Chris Hemsworth Can’t Give ‘12 Strong’ the Momentum It Needs twitter:description: The horses are still nice to look at twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9fa94e6d400f7b/6988f893656a3f1889bd3339/12-strong-quite-strong-enough.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Even Chris Hemsworth Can’t Give _12 Strong_ the Momentum It Needs > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 12 STRONG Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): 12 STRONG Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/s1lEQTl2.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2018-01-18. 12 STRONG Official Trailer_  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Jan 18, 2018 11:50 AM UTC 12 STRONG Official Trailer  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic Jan 18, 2018 11:50 AM UTC The most thrilling elements of Nicolai Fuglsig’s based-on-real-events war drama _12 Strong_ are, in ascending order, Chris Hemsworth, Michael Peña, Michael Shannon and horses. If you have an affinity for any or all of those things, the movie is at least tolerable. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that _12 Strong_–based on Doug Stanton’s 2009 book Horse Soldiers, about U.S. Special Forces troops who traveled to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to confront Taliban forces–should add up to more than it does. Hemsworth, stalwart as always, plays Captain Mitch Nelson, who leads a group of men–among them Shannon’s Hal Spencer and Peña’s Sam Diller–to one of the world’s most unforgiving landscapes to fight an enemy about whom they know very little. The big surprise is that they’ll have to do so on horseback, joining a loosely knit alliance of local anti-Taliban warriors. (Their leader, Abdul Rashid Dostum, is played by _Homeland_‘s Navid Negahban.) In the best scene, Hemsworth instructs his men, equine neophytes, in the fine art of mounting a horse and making it go forward. Otherwise, the finest moments of _12 Strong_ belong to either the characteristically intense Shannon or the ever-likable Peña, or both. In the end, the feat these characters pull off is rousing, but _12 Strong_ never gathers the momentum it needs. The horses are still something to look at, though. If only they had a better movie in which to prance, run and whinny. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] You're taking me to school again? Uh- huh, and picking you up. Daddy. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack. What is that? A part of some drill? Ain't no drill. 19 men attacked our country, the 12 of you will be the first ones to fight Fight back. How do you love your family and leave them to go to war? I have two hours, I'll be really quick. Not a chance, holding out is the only way I can guarantee you'll come back to me. War's gonna be over in like a week. I don't care how long you're gone, as long as you come back. We have one, two, three. Four. Every step we take is gonna be on a minefield from a hundred different wars. Odds are, we're not all gonna make it out of this one. If we don't take that city, World Trade Center is just the beginning. Teaming up with the General of the northern lights that we know nothing about. General. You show me exactly where we're going. Over the mountains. We take horses. Alright, who has ridden before? Anyone? Summer camp, when I was nine. Spring break, but I was pretty hammered. Does it have a name? The name? Okay, this'll be sly. We're outnumbered, 50, 000 Taliban Then okay to find [ UNKNOWN ]. We're on our own. I can't order anyone to do this. [ MUSIC ] You want to surrender? Keep your finger on the trigger. Stay there. God. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] There's no playbook here. We're gonna have to write it ourselves. [ MUSIC ] I ain't losing one man on this team. [ MUSIC ] We're fighting with horsemen against tanks. [ MUSIC ] The greatest weapon in history is this. [ MUSIC ] If you die, that's a letter you and your wife are gonna wish you wrote. [ MUSIC ] I made you a promise, I'm coming home. [ MUSIC ] 12 Strong, the declassified true story of the horse soldiers. 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