'12 Strong' gallops with conviction

In the days and months following the September 11 attacks, a small US Special Forces unit led an offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. They worked in harsh conditions alongside a local warlord and his men, an uneasy alliance at best, and, even with all the technology and money of the US military, executed the successful mission largely on horseback.

The operation, Task Force Dagger, was classified for years and explored later in Doug Stanton’s 2009 book “Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan.”

It provides the basis for “12 Strong,” a long-in-the-works adaptation from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Nicolai Fuglsig, a Danish photojournalist who has shot the war in Kosovo.

Films about US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have a dicey track record.

They can veer from too sentimental to too macho, depending on who’s in front of and behind the camera.

But “12 Strong” is a very solid movie with an engaging story, script and cast led by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.

Only slightly camouflaged behind a modern haircut and some manicured stubble, Hemsworth is Captain Mitch Nelson, who is on leave with his young daughter and wife (played by real-life spouse Elsa Pataky) but springs into action at the sight of the World Trade Center falling on the news.

He raises his hand to assemble a team to go to Afghanistan.

Before that happens, however, we must sit through another obligatory farewell-to-the-families sequence to remind us that many of these guys have wives and children to get back to — some of whom are withholding sex as incentive for a quick homecoming and others who couldn’t be any crueler to a member of their family whom they very well might never see again.

It’s when the men get to the Middle East that the film becomes truly gripping, thanks to an ominous score, a hair-raising helicopter ride that rivals moments in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” and the inherent tension of a mission that, as Nelson puts it, has no playbook.

Their task is to meet up with General Abdul Rashid Dostum (an excellent Navid Negahban) who may be motivated to fight the Taliban if persuaded.

Dostum and Nelson form a tenuous bond that is tested throughout, as they trade the shield of modern technology for horses and mules to cross the treacherous landscape.

 The action sequences are riveting and their evolving mission is engaging throughout.

What separates “12 Strong” from the pack, is its ability to introduce and stay with a band of brothers worth caring about.

The dialogue (Ted Tally and Peter Craig have screenplay credits) is more crackling than standard wartime action pic fare, and actors like Hemsworth, Shannon and Pena make it their own too.

“12 Strong” is the kind of film that might make you think twice about January releases, and spotlights a riveting story in our recent history that many Americans might not know.