{"id":18881,"date":"2019-02-05T14:32:44","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T19:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18881"},"modified":"2019-02-08T01:47:46","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T06:47:46","slug":"br-mile-22-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18881","title":{"rendered":"BR: Mile 22 (2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Weak<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> VVS Films<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0A<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 November 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Action<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0An American ghost team helps a killer escape Indonesia in exchange for the code to avert a biological attack.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 7 Featurettes: “Overwatch” (1:35) + “Introducing Iko Uwais” (1:47) + “Iko Fight” (1:47) + “Bad Ass Women” (1:44) + “Behind-the-Scenes Stunts” (1:56) + “Modern Combat” (1:55) + “Columbia” (1:45) \/ Theatrical Trailers \/DVD + Digital Copy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Action dramas about characters struggling to get from point A to B within a set time frame aren\u2019t new \u2013 Richard Donner tackled one in 13 Blocks<\/strong>, although it ultimately helped shutter his lengthy, box office-friendly career after 2006 – \u00a0but they\u2019re rarely successful when the script fails to provide the filmmaker and actors with solid material to deepen increasingly dire circumstances and their characters.<\/p>\n

Peter Berg\u2019s filmography as director spans action-centric genres and hybrids, but he\u2019s consistently returned to militaristic, jingoistic productions which deliver the kinetic action goods, but are severely limited by bad scripts; Mile 22<\/strong> isn\u2019t the extended incoherence and bombast of Battleship<\/strong> (2012), but its otherwise perfectly fine B-grade story of an elite ghost team transporting a double agent to a U.S. bound plane in exchange for secret data is repeatedly hobbled by one of the worst scripts in the director\u2019s C.V.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such shit. This is the worst fucking shit of all the fucked up shit we\u2019ve ever seen. This is the shittiest, most fucked up shit\u2026\u201d — actor Terry Kinney (HBO\u2019s Oz<\/strong>) as superior Johnny Porter spewing parting shots to James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) after a bellicose briefing scene.<\/em><\/p>\n

Running a tight 94 mins., the first third is an incoherent preamble involving the ghost team, \u2018a third degree of patriotism\u2019 tasked with raiding a house of spies during which everyone dies. The mission yields a possible diplomatic disaster, hence Silva being commanded to fix the \u2018shittiest fucked up shit\u2019 ever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A gift to the team comes in the form of Li Noor (amazing Iko Uwais), a double agent from a fictional Indonesian province, armed with a hard drive that contains the locations of deadly caesium powder. Problem A<\/em>: the data\u2019s encrypted and requires a password locked in Noor\u2019s noggin\u2019. Problem B<\/em>: he wants a safe flight out of Indonesia in exchange for the data that\u2019s auto-set to degrade with each elapsing minute. Under the supervision of leader Bishop (John Malkovich sporting the worst hairpiece of his career), all the team must do is get Noor to an out-of-the-way runway that\u2019s 22 miles from the U.S. Embassy.<\/p>\n

Problem C<\/em>: the province\u2019s hard arm of the law wants Noor, and make repeated, deadly attempts to kill him and the team, be it public, private, or open urban areas with zero regard for civilian casualties \u2013 a preposterous conceit that similarly transformed John Frankenheimer\u2019s car chase film Ronin<\/strong> (1998) into a kinetic but emotionally sterile film.<\/p>\n

Ronin<\/strong> runs a good half hour longer and there are early scenes that attempt to deepen its collection of stoic yet unhappy characters, but the two films share an attempt by their respective directors to create a hyper-tense action drama where characters are warrior grade chess pieces, operating on instinct once the relay begins. It\u2019s (rightly) assumed barely anyone will survive the carnage, but under Berg\u2019s chrome editorial scissors, any brief glimpses of the team\u2019s personal sacrifices to keep the world safe are cut and interpolated so badly, they barely resonate.<\/p>\n

Silva\u2019s a mental case who snaps an elastic band on his right wrist to dull fear, an action Wahlberg repeats incessantly<\/em> for Berg\u2019s camera, while Alice Kerr (Lauren Cohan) becomes increasing distraught when her sleazy ex-husband (played by Berg) torments her with teasing phone calls about their daughter, and improper cake recipes. Noor\u2019s emotions are kept in check by counting the joints on his fingers (also captured on camera with obsessive regularity), and the rest of the team members have no charisma beyond their physicality and degrees of toughness.<\/p>\n

Berg\u2019s use of surveillance cameras and monitors and gizmos spewing reams of digital code owes much to Tony Scott\u2019s techno thriller Enemy of the State<\/strong> (1998), and there are many parallels between approaches to action and info using image gathering gear, but Mile 22<\/strong> isn\u2019t about the state tracking a free individual, but of ghosts who move among the shadows to prevent casualty-heavy terrorism.<\/p>\n

The inclusion of the Russians seems odd until the finale, which espouses to be a twist (if not an echo of Roger Donaldson\u2019s late Cold War thriller No Way Out<\/strong>) but really sets up the surviving characters for a second outing, should the box office and Berg feel a follow-up tale is necessary. A sequel may well happen: Wahlberg and Berg have collaborated on the prior Lone Survivor<\/strong> (2013), Patriot\u2019s Day <\/strong>(2016), and Deepwater Horizon<\/strong> (2016), yet Mile 22<\/strong> may be their worst attempt to fuse politics and action.<\/p>\n

Mile 22<\/strong>\u2019s first third reveals the amateurish abilities of neophyte screenwriter Lea Carpenter, with (presumably) cleanup material by Graham Roland, but what ultimately renders the film such a mess is Berg\u2019s decision to cut dialogue like an action scene, paring bad dialogue to its absolute worst, and robbing the actors of any nuanced moments beyond fidgeting with rubber bands, joints, and text messages.<\/p>\n

Wahlberg also seemed convinced the best way to play loose canon Silva is by bludgeoning colleagues with rants; they’re loud & laughable attempts to cut through diplomatic bullshit, and call liars and blindly obedient, soulless operatives for what they are. It takes a good half hour before Mile 22<\/strong> shifts to its main gear, which is the film\u2019s raison d\u2019etre: a tense action film. Editors Melissa Lawson Cheung and Colby Parker Jr., the latter a longtime Berg ally, stick with fast, flashy edits, but they are entirely coherent \u2013 it’s an appreciative nod to the second unit & stunt directors, and Berg\u2019s own knack for choreographing combat that doesn\u2019t rob the choreography of any fluidity. Even flash cuts are tied to nuances and ripples of movement, so at least in its offering of extended montages, Mile 22<\/strong> manages to generally satisfy.<\/p>\n

Composer Jeff Russo (TV\u2019s Fargo<\/strong>, Legion<\/strong>) was tasked with writing material that wouldn\u2019t get obliterated in sound mix, so, much of what\u2019s heard recalls Harry Gregson-Williams\u2019 processed beats for Tony Scott’s own kinetic thrillers. Russo\u2019s action cues are pretty minimalist, and isolated to sustained bass undulations.<\/p>\n

Mile 22<\/strong> isn\u2019t a good movie \u2013 it\u2019s a bungling by an impatient director and hack writers \u2013 but Uwais\u2019 artistry with brilliant defensive choreography is arguably what saves the film, taking time away from Wahlberg\u2019s laughable screeds, and forcing Berg to do what he and his crew do best: choreograph mayhem.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2019 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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