Mile 22
review by Bobby Blakey
Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg have had a successful partnership teaming up for the films Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day. Now they are teaming up once again for the action flick Mile 22 co-starring Lauren Cohan, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey, and Iko Uwais, but does it offer up the action you would expect from this cast or will it fail to make the trip?
Mile 22 follows James Silva, an operative of the CIA’s most highly-prized and little-known unit. Aided by a top-secret tactical command team, Silva must transport an asset who has vital information to a Southeast Asian airfield for extraction before the enemy closes in. I am a huge fan of both Rousey and Uwais so going into this movie I was already sold and with the team of Wahlberg and Berg team how could it go wrong. First and foremost I did enjoy the film and it offers up some great action, but it is sadly also full of issues.
A big chunk of the movie was surprisingly dialogue heavy. This wasn’t necessarily an issue as it was quick witted and fast paced giving the characters a chance to get to know them via their personalities instead of their unimportant backstory. This is where one issue is as there is one character where they are going back and forth with her personal life as it builds towards the mission and it goes nowhere. This entire nature of the story could have been scrapped or at least cut down to one interaction and had the same effect. I did dig that Wahlberg’s Silva was a different kind of character than you usually get in this kind of film as it made him fun to watch as well as unhinged.
As much as I like Cohan, I think that the role of her and Rousey were miscast and should have been reversed. I know that this film was supposed to originally be a starring vehicle for Rousey so pretty bummed that she got pushed back to supporting player and while she did get in on the action was poorly underutilized. Uwais on the other had is given the heavy load of the fight sequences and despite
being horribly shot still manages to deliver everything you expect from his fights. While it does take a while to get to the action the entire second half of the film is a nonstop barrage of bullets, explosions and fight sequences that make the rest of the film worth sitting through.
I really did enjoy this film and think there is such a better action film in there had it been better cut and shot. They went with a gritty tone which was perfect for the story its telling, but they shot the fights so chaotic it is often times hard to see what is happening which is a crime with Uwais in action. They also bounce around so much trying to make you feel like you are part of their mission between the drone camera, security cameras and normal shots that it gets a bit cluttered. If you are wanting some great action then give it a try, just know there are some clunky issues here that hold it back from being the awesome film it could have been.
This release not only includes the film, but also bonus content including trailers and numerous featurettes that take you behind the action to see how they brought it all to life. Join the fight and grab your copy of Mile 22 available now on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.