Sunday, 30 September 2018

FILM: Mile 22 (dir: Peter Berg, 2018)

"So, this is serious?"
"Oh, yes."

This well-worn concept (see 16 Blocks) is given a reasonably lively spin in this fourth Berg-Wahlberg collaboration,  Here a ghost Government squad has to transport a defector to an airstrip (hence the title) with a time limit, a countdowning self-destructing piece of software that will reveal the location of stolen radioactive materials, and a local team also after the defector all to contend with.  Depending on your point of view, Berg's rapid-fire huge-coverage style is either adrenalising or draining - here, it is tiringly relentless but thankfully the obstacles put in the ever-diminishing team's way is mostly fairly compelling.  Wahlberg presents an interesting and reasonably-played hyperactively intelligent action agent, Lauren Cohan commits fully to the action whilst saddled with an awkward divorce sub-plot, but both struggle to overcome the choppy editing style that leads to shouty quick-fire unsubtle performances in order to get their lines across.  The bonus for action fans is the wonderful Iko Uwais in his first major Hollywood film, with a couple of high-energy fight sequences which he does so well, especially one with him handcuffed to a hospital gurney.  Mile 22 is a breathless and very familiar tale with a good cast, so how much you enjoy it will really depend on how much of the director's style you can take.  The sequel-baiting ending is perhaps unnecessary and a bit presumptuous.

No comments: