Mile 22 (2018)

Review

94min

Genre:     Action, Crime, Thriller

Director:  Peter Berg

Cast:       Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais…and more

Writers:   Lea Carpenter and Graham Roland

-Synopsis-

When a cop in Southeast Asia becomes a valuable informant with sensitive information, a high-level US intelligence operative and his elite tactical squad are charged with getting him out safely—but determined locals won’t be their only obstacle, in this meandering action/thriller from the director of ‘Hancock’ and ‘Friday Night Lights’.

If their previous three collaborations—biographical dramas and survival thrillers ‘Patriots Day’, ‘Deepwater Horizon’ and ‘Lone Survivor’—are anything to go by, it’s clear superstar actor and producer extraordinaire Mark Wahlberg has a solid working relationship with actor-turned-director Peter Berg. Now the two reunite in all-action mode and go international, recruiting an eclectic group of action stars for a bruising thriller . . . with a distinct spy flavour.

Wahlberg stars as black ops team leader ‘James Silva’; a highly intelligent and skilled operative with a quick temper, questionable social skills and a major personality disorder, whose latest assignment sees his ‘Overwatch’ team—including his number two ‘Alice’ (Lauren Cohan) and fellow agents ‘Sam’ (Ronda Rousey) and ‘Will’ (Carlo Alban)—laying low in ‘Indocarr’ Asia. But when turncoat local cop ‘Li Noor’ (Iko Uwais) turns up with time-sensitive information which could save lives, Silva & co. spring back into action, struggling to deliver their asset to the airport before local authorities led by ‘Axel’ (Sam Medina) can take him back—while shadowy international forces threaten to confront Overwatch with the sins of their past.

Despite some classic action/thriller tropes and the initial posturing as a patriotic, ‘by any means necessary’ American hero flick, ‘Mile 22’ is very much a contemporary film of its time, which bends over backwards to reflect the complex, interconnected and constantly surveilled world we live in. The film kicks off with events which could be ripped out of the news headlines, and paints a picture of a dangerous world requiring shadowy operatives to do what diplomacy and traditional military intervention can’t—although it does eventually subvert the justification for questionable American intervention, by introducing dire consequences.

Yet in spite of the global geopolitics backdrop, some double agents and a big final plot twist, this is no intricate spy thriller or clever espionage drama. High-octane bruising action is the only real name of this game, militaristic and tactical in style, giving Wahlberg the chance to create many a corpse in cold, calculating style. Meanwhile Berg doesn’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of Iko Uwais’ Pencak Silat skills, made famous in ‘The Raid’ series, inserting random and brutal fight sequences into their dangerous journey, while Lauren Cohan brings some timely female representation to all the cold-blooded killing.

This isn’t a film concerned with cultivating narrative, exercising the mind or stimulating the imagination. The character development doesn’t exactly breed audience investment, and the complexities of Wahlberg’s lead figure are frankly beyond his abilities to make him pop off the screen. So it really falls to the action and the thrills to prop up this project—but there’s nothing to capture the imagination here, and only just enough to hold your attention.

Yes the action is intense, and the violence graphic, but there’s nothing new or memorable to sink your teeth into, and you’ll leave the cinema without a single scene stuck in the mind. Without being the central focus around which the action is built, even Iko Uwais and his hand-to-hand talents are rather muted compared to what he’s famous for, and for all the gritty violence ‘Mile 22’ does nowhere near enough to earn its 18 UK rating, proving at best as graphic as most BBFC 15-rated films of the same ilk.

Despite posturing as a spy thriller and although convoluted enough, ‘Mile 22’ offers little mystery or intrigue beyond the big final twist and reveal, which isn’t exactly masterfully executed and doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Ultimately this is a pseudo patriotic action/thriller which is as amoral as the world it reflects, featuring plenty of flash & bang but little substance and only a thin veil of political nous—making for a watchable but forgettable slugfest, destined to be lost in the crowd.

The Bottom Line…

Underwritten but overly stuffed and heavily adrenalized, ‘Mile 22’ fails at playing espionage thriller and offers only a final twist as a reward for a meandering plot, which flirts with being geopolitically savvy but is ultimately drowned out by the mindless mayhem—delivering frenzied but familiar non-stop action without the characters to underpin it, and proving watchable but unmemorable at every turn. Let’s just hope the next Berg-Wahlberg collaboration ‘Wonderland’ proves a return to some sort of form.

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