[yasr_overall_rating]
An elite American intelligence officer, aided by a top-secret tactical command unit, tries to smuggle a mysterious police officer with sensitive information out of the country.
“Mile 22” marks the fourth collaboration between Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg. Starting off with “Lone Survivor,” and followed by “Deepwater Horizon,” “Patriots Day” and now “Mile 22,” the team-up between the two men has proven very successful. Like Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro before them, both men know each other so well that they can probably anticipate each other’s next move. And the fact that Berg started out his career as an actor means he has a great understanding of how they prepare for their roles and has been tagged an “actor’s director” by many he has collaborated with. Unlike, say, George Lucas, or early Ridley Scott, both of whom were known to be more concerned about the visual aesthetic of their movies rather than the actors’ performances, Berg has a great way of working with his actors and getting the very best performance from them, whether they’re playing intelligence officers or oil rig roughnecks.
“Mile 22” starts out in a quiet American suburb where James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) and his team, an elite CIA task force, infiltrate a house where a group of Russian spies are working on a top-secret mission. They secure the facility but when the operation quickly goes south, all hell breaks loose. In the process, one of them tries to escape, an 18-year-old male but James knocks him to the ground and points his gun at him. The young man tells him, “You’re making a big mistake,” but after James’ boss, Bishop (John Malkovich), gives him the authorization to shoot, he wastes no time in doing so. We then fast forward 16 months to a fictional East Asian country.
When Li Noor (Iko Uwais), a mysterious intelligence asset, walks into the U.S. Embassy and states that he has life-threatening information, James decides to hear him out. The previous day, James and his team foiled an arms deal but the canisters of what they were told contained a deadly disease, were nowhere to be found. Come to find out, Li is the contact that gave them the information. When one of James’ teammates, Alice (Lauren Cohan), confirms that he is indeed her contact, they demand to know where the canisters are. All they found were some guns and grenades and some priceless painting knockoffs but unbeknownst to them, the paintings contained the deadly powder within the paintwork itself. After this proves to be true, Li states that he has information about a possible chemical attack, enough to wipe out an entire city but he will only give them the information they need once he is given asylum in the U.S. and granted immunity. James and his team are assigned to the case and on the outset, it appears to be pretty straightforward, drive Li to an airstrip outside of the city and put him on a plane. Simple. What could go wrong you ask? Everything.
The movie is fast-paced and you barely have time to stop and catch your breath. The action is intensified as our protagonists are on a timer so every second counts. When one of them gets injured in an ambush, while they are still physically capable of moving, their injuries would slow the rest of the team down and so they stay behind and give their life to the mission. This happens with several of James’ teammates until it is only James, Li and Alice left. Having to literally shoot and blast their way through every obstacle that lies in their path, they are relieved when they finally make it to the airstrip and put Li on the plane. With Alice joining him, James makes his way back to the U.S. Embassy but only then, listening through his earpiece to his boss Bishop, does he discover what is really going on and what the whole point of the mission was, hearkening back to the 18-year-old male James killed in the beginning. Naturally, this big reveal leaves the ending wide open for a sequel and it was the one part of the movie that felt deliberately premeditated. Instead of just letting the film end, it felt like it was intentionally set up for a sequel, regardless of whether the movie makes money or not. Aside from this one criticism, Wahlberg and co. deliver a top-notch action thriller with a few spectacular setpieces thrown in.
In theaters Friday, August 17th
