'Mile 22' is the biggest disappointment of the summer season, and an unfortunate end to an entertaining series of movies that have hit screens across the globe in the past few weeks.
The ensemble cast of Mark Wahlberg (Planet of the Apes) as James Silva, WWE Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey (The Expendables) as Sam Snow and Lauren Cohan (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) caused enthusiasm amongst lovers of action films – only to be sorely disappointed.
Several elements are lost in the film that fails to impress, with it being a clear rush job by director Peter Berg who earlier collaborated with Wahlberg on three other movies such as Deepwater Horizon, Lone Survivor and Patriots Day.
Berg is clearly trying to build a franchise similar to the Bourne films, but his current outing lacks depth and thrills.
The film’s lack of cohesiveness leads viewers to get lost in the hail of bullets which, I think, were the best thing as they got rid of one boring character after another!
However, the stand-out performer is Indonesian actor Iko Uwais (The Raid) as Li Noor, a spy for the US government within the Indonesian government, who has vital information in a hard disc that he refuses to share unless transported to safety 22 miles to the nearest airport.
After a long absence, the return of John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich and Of Mice and Men) to the screen as James Bishop holds a lot of promise, but alas it sadly comes in a movie that is annoying.
The movie would have scored a much lower rating had it not been for the amazing performance of Uwais who not only piqued my interest in the character he was portraying but also impressed with his combat skills in fighting scenes.
There are reports that the film’s sequel is in the works but in my opinion it will also flop if there is no real direction, or a proper story as the one here by Graham Roland and Lea Carpenter, who also wrote the screenplay, is disjointed, disoriented and tasteless.
I was glad that the film was just 94 minutes long, because I couldn’t endure any more. My time was wasted and what I thought would be fun turned out to deserve a thumbs-down.
The movie is being screened in Vox Cineco City Centre, Seef Cineplex, Saar Cineplex, Wadi Al Sail, Mukta A2 and Vox The Avenues.