Mile 22

Typical American spy recruitment film with noisy action, tough talk and a macho Wahlberg. Berg knows how to put together action scenes, but he should get another editor. The devices from the Bourne trilogy are not surprising, they are used too much for effect and beyond belief. There is no story to speak of, but with better characterisation and development of the protagonists, the level set-up might not have mattered so much – think of The Raid. The only one of them here is Iko Uwais, and his potential is only utilised to about 50 percent; basically the same as the potential of Berg as director. Probably some form of guilty pleasure, or a slight lapse that can happen once a decade to anyone. (28.10.2018)

The government’s game of Risk didn’t turn out according to the wishes of one parent, so someone is going to pay dearly. American self-criticism combined with an Indonesian bloodbath movie looks great in Berg’s competent hands. Every character is essentially negative, regardless of the flag he’s waving. Wahlberg acts all the time like an arrogant bastard with a cruelly realistic view of the world, which doesn’t make for a completely traditional narrator. Uwais does a competent job in his supporting role, even though he is given room to work only in one major fight scene. It’s a shame that not a single scene or moment in the movie stands out as deserving mention. Spent cartridges rain down, dead bodies pile up, with just the sound of a death rattle hanging over the battleground. A great screenplay, just the right length. Bring on more movies like this. (04.11.2018)

After Lone Survivor, Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon, Peter Berg had a weaker moment, which is reflected in the rather mediocre reviews, but I had fun. You can never have enough R-rated action movies at the cinema, and there's a decent cast; Mark Wahlberg plays an arrogant bastard and got on my nerves for the first time, but it's a pleasure to see John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey and the excellent Iko Uwais, schooling the Americans in a big way here. Story-wise, the film is a bit cold and doesn't really grab you, but what does grab your attention are the action scenes, which are very intense, gritty, full of contact and pretty bloody. There is some messier editing (like in Taken), which is not needed at all with Uwais, yet I enjoyed his fights and there are more than enough broken limbs again. The last half hour is tension packed and the final twist was quite a surprise. It could have turned out better, but I left the cinema satisfied. 75% (20.09.2018)

A fairly overlooked and lesser-known action flick that unfortunately sticks to the average. It stars the great Ronda Rousey, Maggie from The Walking Dead, John Malkovich and Mark Wahlberg, whom I like, but his role here was very bland. Overall, the plot is almost about nothing, it's an extraction of a person from point A to point B, but the action scenes are solid, and Iko Uwais is great in his role. It's a shame that after a promising opening action sequence, the rest of the film didn't amount to much more than a muddled, sometimes boring chase that wasn't bad, but something was missing. The fourth star is for the imaginative, unexpected and absolutely breathtaking ending, which helped the film a lot. (11.02.2019)

Duo (Wahl)Berg is starting up again (and it will probably be a few more times) and I just hope people will come to watch them. If they hadn't canceled the Czech premiere, I would be the first in line. Every good gamer will probably think that this time my favorite duo essentially made a live-action version of Call of Duty and everyone will enjoy the action a lot, I would even argue that it is one of the coolest movies of the year, if we think in the context of shootouts. What really entertained me was Lauren Cohan, who is really badass (not like Ronda), and since I didn't survive her rampage in WD already, I hope to see her somewhere soon. For non-fans of well-shot action, I advise to stay away, they won't find anything else here. (21.11.2018)