Mile 22

It seems that the Arabs are no longer on the US radar. The Americans got tired of killing goat herders and enthusiastically returned into the arms of their time-proven enemy to warm up the Second Cold War a little. The film surprised me several times – there was hardly any pathos, the conclusion was extremely atypical and Uncle Sam's enemy did not die by the hundreds as usual. Other clichés, however, were still there – the bad guys dying after a single hit as usual, as opposed to the American Terminators, and a 110-pound Nikita gets beaten up by an ugly giant with the calm of a stoic. But who cares, I've seen worse. (07/03/2019)

I expected a more successful film from the Wahlberg-Berg collaboration, but Mile 22 was satisfying in many ways, especially the fact that the creators dared to make a truly bloody drama with an R rating (which isn’t often seen in action movies these days, as most target family audiences). It surprised me and pleased me, but I could have imagined more such moments in the film. Or fewer chaotic ones. And this brings us to a major issue that prevents the film from rising to the top. EDITING. I don’t know who they hired for the editing, but that person overdid it. At times, it felt like I might have an epileptic seizure from what I was seeing on the screen. I don’t understand why there were so many cuts during scenes with Uwais; it wasn’t even necessary. Even the shootouts didn’t feel continuous, and viewers often got lost between who was the villain and who was the hero. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story, and the final plot twist caught me off guard. It might have seemed forced to some, but I appreciated it. Wahlberg, by the way, did a good job. I give it 74%. (14/11/2018)

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. (05/11/2018)

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)

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. (12/02/2019)