Mile 22 Review

The team up of actor Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg has been responsible for filling a specific niche in film: patriotic movies. From Lone Survivor to Patriots Day, the duo have concerned themselves with making no-nonsense political dramas emphasizing the virtues of America and Americans. They continue this thematic streak with Mile 22. Unlike their previous efforts, however, the duo's project was met with neither critical acclaim nor box-office success, currently only having made $31 million worldwide, a major loss when weighed against its estimated $35 million budget. Were people right to stay away from this one or does it deserve more than its gotten?



The premise is simple: James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) and his black ops team need to escort Indonesian police officer Li Noor (Iko Uwais) to an airstrip 22 miles away. Standing in there way is an army of local police who want their traitorous officer back.



That sounds like a good idea for a no bullshit action film and it is. The problem is that the film has aspirations to being an espionage film as well as a military drama. There's conspiracy, twists and turns and none of them make a whole ton of sense. The twist at the end is probably the worst decision of the film, as it turns the entire story up to that point into a convoluted mess that probably didn't even need to happen. While I understand the logic behind the twist, I believe that there were so many more entertaining ways this could've happened (trying not to spoil).



The convoluted story, however, is only half the problem. The other problem... is everything else. The dialogue goes on long monologues about how diplomacy gets in the way of getting things done and it all sounds clunky, like a film student's first attempt at writing dialogue after he discovered Ben Shapiro. And when the script tries to be witty and have banter between characters it's forced, unfunny and painful to listen to.



This could be in part because the characters are all either unlikable or unmemorable. Silva in particular is an obnoxious, self-impressed douchebag who feels the need to condescendingly mansplain to anybody he feels is too stupid or too slow. This is troubling because he's set up as the moral mouthpiece of the film, the character we're ideologically supposed to agree with. This leads us to the theme of the film, which I find troubling. The idea is that Silva's super secret soldier squad is the last chance the US government has at getting things done. It's flat out stated that they're so successful because they answer to nobody but themselves. The fact that a military ops team with no accountability is presented as a good thing is a bit troubling to me.



The technical side isn't much good either, but there are a few good action scenes. The sound design for the gunshots and explosions give a satisfying punch. There are some creative scenarios that allow for unorthodox gunfights. Iko Uwais continues to be a sight to behold as a martial artist. Since he was the co-choreographer of the film he gets to do a lot of creative, hard-hitting, kitchen sink combat that stands as some of the most brutal stuff you'll see in an action movie this year. It's just a shame that you can't see any of it.



If you want to get a sense of what the camerawork is like imagine Michael J. Fox being the cinematographer for a Michael Bay movie. And then the footage was edited by somebody determined to make the audiences' eyes hurt. I haven't seen a lot of action films with shaky cam in them recently, so it was only with Mile 22 that I was reminded why I hate it so much. I understand the desire to create audience immersion and I believe handheld camera is a good way to do it; it worked to great effect in Saving Private Ryan and The Raid. However, when it comes to this you need to know how much is too much. If I don't have a sense of the scene geography, who's winning the fight or even who's punching who then you've used too much of a good thing. And if you combine that with close-up shots in poorly lit environments that only last for a second you have an incoherent mess.



Mile 22 is annoying because there's a lot of potential for a good movie. An accomplished cast, a competent director, a simple premise. However, it's all wasted with a bad script, bad cinematography and a wasted cast. Not a horrible experience, but an ultimately boring and disappointing one.