Mile 22

Mile 22 represents the 4th time we've seen BergXBerg (or Berg Squared) do a film together where Peter Berg directs and Mark Wahlberg stars. 

The results before this film have varied from good/great (Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon) to phenomenal with last year's Patriot's Day - a film that ended up making my Top 10 last year. 

Once their "everyman" trilogy wrapped up (my terminology, not theirs, though I'd lend it to them) it seems the two were eager to move on from real life events into a "realistic" space where they could play. 

It's there where Mile 22 hurts so much because of what's come before it. You could harp on the story all you want, but the film itself is not up to the quality that we're used to from this recurring company. It's an incredibly frustrating film to watch because you know it can be done better and, truth be told, the puzzle pieces are all here. This could have been a surprise hit at the end of summer if significant tweaks would have happened, but unfortunately we're left with a film that becomes more and more forgettable the longer it goes on and, maybe unfairly(?), pales in the action shadow cast by Mission: Impossible - Fallout a couple weeks ago. 

What may be most jarring about Mile 22 is how unlikable nearly all of its characters are and how little time it spends on any one of them. Wahlberg as James Silva is a total a**hole, which is kind of fun to watch except when it takes over an entire scene where you feel like the characters should be...you know...spending time to save the day? Instead of getting chided. It leads to a few good laughs, but it's also coupled with an annoying quirk he has of snapping a wristband against his wrist. It's a weak attempt to state that his character is on the autism spectrum, but it gets annoying by the 100th time (much sooner actually) he does it. Lauren Cohan (from The Walking Dead) does really well on the big screen and she's a nice compliment to Wahlberg. Unfortunately her character is bogged down with a completely unnecessary subplot about a pending divorce. Iko Uwais (from the incredible The Raid 2) is badass as always, but we don't know much about his character other than he's holding secrets and he wants out of the country. The remainder of the cast, including Ronda Rousey and John Malkovich, are fine, but forgettable. 

"Yes. I know Walking Dead is awful now. I'm working on it."

"You want to be in Raid 3? Let me go."

Luckily, one of the reasons we learn so little about these characters is because the film is short and sweet. Not in the "thank god it's over" way, but it's a nice compliment to the 2.5 hours that was Fallout. The plot overall is a bit of a mess, but I honestly didn't take too much issue with it. In fact, I think it was yet another puzzle piece that, done slightly better, could have been an asset to the film. It ends with a plot twist that's somewhat out of left field but I actually kind of liked it outside of some final ambiguities it introduces. Without spoiling too much, "Mile 22" actually refers to the length of the course they must take to get the asset out of the city in what eventually turns into a chase film. Chase films can be action-packed and thrilling right? Unfortunately for Mile 22 it makes the cardinal sin of having flat-out bad action. And what hurts it even more is that its action gets progressively worse and worse. The film starts with a pretty awesome house raid, and within the first 40 minutes we're treated to a well-choreographed fight with Iko Uwais and some solid vehicular combat. After that, the film seems to give up when it comes to making its action interesting and tolerable. What were just mere glimpses in those aforementioned "good" scenes, the bad editing, hyper cuts, and just general awful action filming gets worse as we progress. So by the time we get to a incredibly boring hallway shootout inside an apartment complex, the film has now bored you AND can barely share its action with you because of awful editing. Personally I don't have much patience for this type of "gimmick" because it replaces choreography and smart staging for "chaos".

Let's get a proper Shooter sequel, huh!

I'm writing this review the morning after seeing Mile 22 and it's frustrating even today. Had it just done everything better it could have been awesome -- which you can technically say for any film, yes. But with Mile 22 it feels as if they had all the pieces and components to build something great (actors, director, action stars, quick run-time, chase-based plot, etc.) and they dropped the ball hard. It's not totally worthless as a film, but perhaps just that much more disappointing because you know and wanted it to be more than it is. 

CONS

• Unlikable characters with annoying quirks (Wahlberg's Silva) or useless subplots (Cohan's Alice)
• Muddled plot -- though I admit I took least issue with this
• The organization of the plot is weird though. There's an interview with Wahlberg's character scattered throughout that never gets resolution
• After the car chase, the action becomes boring and its editing degrades quickly
• Disappointing because you know that BergXBerg are capable of better

PROS

• Solid cast and Wahlberg, Uwais, and Cohan do well despite any shortcomings of their actual character
• Starts strong and remains so (mostly) through the car chase
• Interesting, kind of wild, ending. Most will hate it but it amused me
• Short and sweet

 Rath's Review Score | 5.5/10