MILE 22 Brings Wahlberg and Director Berg Back Together for Action

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from director/producer Peter Berg and STX Entertainment comes a fast paced chase to MILE 22.

James Silva (Mark Wahlberg), Alice Kerr (Lauren Cohan), and Sam Snow (Ronda Rousey) are part of a CIA prized group of operatives who are sent to handle special missions. In their latest take down, the team loses a man, takes down Russians up to no good and intel.

In Asia, Kerr has an informant that needs their protection and Silva isn’t thrilled about it. Li Noor (Iko Uwais) has turned himself in to the embassy claiming to have information about the whereabouts of missing chemicals. What makes this even more interesting is that the local authorities want him back and they have Axel (Sam Medina) to make that happen.

The secret tactical command team led by Bishop (John Malkovich) works with Silva’s team being the eyes and ears getting Noor to an airstrip twenty-two miles from the embassy for extraction. Along with Bishop is King (Keith Bolden), Knight (Jenique Hendrix), Rook (Billy Smith) and Pawn (Myke Holmes) who have the technology to make it happen.

What they don’t know is that the team has eyes on them as well. In the skies above is Vera (Natasha Goubskaya) and Russian military Aleksander (Nikolai Nikolaeff) and they want something too.

The information everyone wants has a key that only Noor knows and it will not be around long. The clock is ticking as every move is being watched and sometimes you have to trust someone you don’t know to survive.

Every mile matters!

Wahlberg as Silva is a very hyperactive, intense and fast talking individual who gives zero frakks about propriety or rank. Some might call it monologuing but he does it with such speed that it will make your mind spin while you giggle at the same time. He lays everything out on the table and yet his team means everything – even if he doesn’t act like it all the time. Wahlberg turns in his usual strong performance in a story that is fast telling and even faster in action.

Cohan as Kerr is a mother who is dealing with an ex-husband who likes to have control. Personally I would be so quick to control a woman who has no problem with speaking her mind or pointing a weapon in someone’s face! She believes in her contact Noor wants to see him safe. Anyone who has watched AMC’s The Walking Dead can see that Cohan brings it to this role as well.

Rousey as Snow is tough and pretty much took this role and ran with it. Malkovich as Bishop is suave and in control of his team. Goubskaya as Vera watches everything from the air and doesn’t bat an eye when the team comes under fire. Skeggs as MIT gets a shout out because the scene between she and Silva is epic and fast.

Uwais as Noor is fan-frikken-tastic but then again if you have seen THE RAID in 2011 and THE RAID 2 in 2014 then you know this role is very cool for him. There is no doubt that his martial arts is on point and brutal but Uwais takes this character to another level that made my jaw drop – oh yea, he’s got this.

Other cast include Carlo Alban as William Douglas, Chae-rin Lee as Queen, Emily Skeggs as MIT, Terry Kinney as Johnny Porter, Brandon Scales as Jacob Stone, Poorna Jagannathan as Dorothy Brady, Elle Graham as India and Peter Berg as Lucas.

Berg and Wahlberg have proven that their true story telling is a calling card of the duo and they do it well. This is a bit of a turn from the last few years but there’s nothing wrong with that either. I don’t mind being taken out of the realm of reality for an hour and a half to just sit back and watch the film do its job – entertain me.

MILE 22 is a total action film that doesn’t give the audience a moment to sit still. The speak is just as fast as any bullet flying provided by Wahlberg and Cohan making sure we understand they mean business. Each character in the film has a role to play and man does it get played intensely.

Berg doesn’t disguise the good or bad of either side but instead goes in full bore on the game of modern warfare. It’s no longer easy to recognize friend or foe when it’s all treated like a game. The cinematography is pretty cool keeping up with the pace of the story but then again if you are going to have an action film – go big or go home!

In the end – Option 1: Diplomacy, Option 2: Military…meet Option 3!