Mile 22

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey, Carlo Alban, Natasha Goubskaya, Sam Medina
Directed by: Peter Berg
Rating: R
Genre: Action
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An elite military unit must transport an informant (Iko Uwais) out of Indonesia, but face multiple threats who want him dead.

Review:

Tim: I feel like I'm all over the place with Mile 22. From the trailers, the movie looked generic and frankly, pretty bad. The movie itself proved far better than my lowered expectations believed it would be, but it was ultimately disappointing because it wasn't quite a good movie. It's rare to see a movie that pleasantly surpasses expectations but is still disappointing because you could see how it easily could have been better. In the end, this is a decent movie.

The biggest issue I had with the film is that I didn't really like any of the characters. This is most apparent with Mark Wahlberg, who the films repeatedly stresses is a real a-hole. We get this weird backstory component that I think is supposed to make us understand him? It doesn't work effectively at all. We're left with the fact that he snaps a rubber band on his wrist to help his mind focus and he still continues to be a relentless jerk for no apparent reason. I didn't care about his character at all and I believe this is a major issue with the film. Wahlberg works when he's working hard to be charming- he's not that likeable a guy without some effort. He doesn't put any here and it does not work.

I was glad to see Lauren Cohan since I've enjoyed her work on "The Walking Dead". She actually gives a pretty strong performance. Sometimes television actors struggle with the transition to the silver screen, but I thought she worked well here. She may not be a movie star, but I could see a long career in supporting roles. Her character's issue is that she's dealing with a broken family back at home. This gives her character some helpful context and differentiation, but it wasn't much fun seeing her anger flare up at her ex-husband. Iko Wwais actually gives a great performance. I was probably most interested in him as a character. I don't know if I help any emotional connection to him, but he was engaging at least in his physical performance. John Malkovich is always great to see, although his role was minimal. I still don't see why people think Ronda Rousey can act. Now, while I still stand by that sentiment, I will admit she has one scene where she shows some real emotion that I thought was well done. Still, I'm not very impressed with her.

The story was odd. It was very different to most action movies in some ways, and that was a pleasant change of pace. That's one of the stronger aspects of the film- it does some things we're not used to seeing. That is partially why I felt disappointed at the end. There's a few big twists and unexpected events that really separate this film from the multitude of similar ones. It actually sets up perfectly for a sequel. It really felt like this was the first part of a much larger story (I know Peter Berg and Wahlberg wanted this to be a trilogy). Even though I only thought the story was decent and didn't love the characters, I admit I was intrigued where the story could go from here. Unfortunately, they didn't make this first one a strong enough film and the box office wasn't there, so it's questionable if we will ever get another film.

The action sequences are mostly solid. There's some great firefights, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat. People die. The "R" rating certainly helped because Berg delivers an unflinching action film here. I have to give him credit for the action here. Now, not all scenes are as good as expected. The film spends a lot of time in the apartment building action scenes and it felt like that dragged on too long. Still, as a whole, the film was intense and action packed.

I really wish I liked Mile 22 more. If it was a better film, I'd be clamoring for the sequel to see how the story progressed. As such, I'm actually fine if another film is never made. I'd certainly watch it, but the lower quality of this film prevents it from being a must-see. Action movie fans will likely find some things to enjoy here, but it's ultimately not good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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