Mile 22 ** (2018, Mark Wahlberg, Lauren Cohan, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey) – Movie Review

Director Peter Berg’s well-made, impressively staged, visceral action movie thriller Mile 22 is not bad but no knockout and no classic. The 18 certificate for strong bloody violence is a warning. Mile 22 is super-intense. This movie is hard to warm to, thanks largely to its apparent unconcern for human life and personal pain. It comes from the director and star of the excellent 2013 Lone Survivor.

The normally likeable Mark Wahlberg plays a weird, nasty and alienating character in a weird, nasty and alienating movie, with a lot of great, ultra-violent realistic action – actually spectacularly violent and unpleasant – punctuated by a lot more pointless mumbling, which is irritating because you think you must be missing something much of the time. That makes the plot, characters and motivations hard to follow, and any nuances go by the board.

The story is simple, as the script explains at the end. Simple, yes, but it could have been satisfying and appealing too, but somehow, despite all the skill involved, it isn’t. It really isn’t. Mile 22 fails to involve or excite. It all just happens there up on screen without involving the audience. There is no build-up of tension, just full-on mayhem, more or less all through its fairly short running time of 94 minutes.

The story is simple. Wahlberg plays an elite CIA unit’s intelligence officer James Silva, whose top-secret American tactical command team is trying to smuggle mysterious police officer Li Noor (Iko Uwais) out of the country in Asia in return for the code to the life-threatening information he holds as the enemy closes in. Or at least, that seems to be the story. The screenplay is by Lea Carpenter, from a story by Carpenter and Graham Roland.

Iko Uwais certainly impresses in his brilliantly stage fight scenes, perhaps the best thing about a moderate movie. John Malkovich, complete with unconvincing wig, takes the money and runs as the person in command, Mother. He takes it seriously, but there is little he can do. There is plenty of his role but it is a bit of a cypher.

Then there is Lauren Cohan, the obligatory attractive tough gal supporting Wahlberg. She puts a lot into it, but role is a bit of a cypher too. [She made her debut back in 2005 in Casanova with Heath Ledger.] And, for good measure, there is another impressive tough gal in Ronda Rousey as Sam Snow.

Ronda Rousey plays Sam Snow in Mile 22.

It is the 5′ 8″ Wahlberg’s film, such as it is, but the 5′ 5″ Indonesian martial arts actor Iko Uwais makes the stronger impression in a role that is just about the action (he is also credited first as co-fight choreographer). Iko Uwais’s spectacular turn here proves that he deserves a movie of his own.

Although the story develops in Asia, parts of the film were shot in Colombia, partly because of concerns about security.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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Indonesian martial arts actor Iko Uwais.