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An elite American intelligence officer, aided by a top-secret tactical command unit, tries to smuggle a mysterious police officer with sensitive information out of the country.
From a leisurely, albeit brief opening sequence that begins with a husband and wife arguing over directions to a house, “Mile 22” quickly shifts into high gear and never lets up. Directed by Peter Berg, from a screenplay by Lea Carpenter, the movie is a non-stop techno-thrill ride into the latest surveillance tools and cybersecurity wizardry.
The premise of the film derives from the increasing intensity of global terrorist campaigns, which in turn require the development of new methods of response. If diplomacy and conventional military action fail, the bad guys are introduced to a new breed of CIA operatives – products of a specialized training program that recruits at very young ages. Mark Wahlberg leads the small team on the ground, each of whom carries their own particular emotional and behavioral baggage.
The film’s title refers to the distance that the U.S. covert unit must travel in order to transport their high-priority asset to an extraction point – all the while doggedly pursued by local government intelligence services. Although much of location shooting for “Mile 22” took place in Colombia, the setting for the plot is a fictitious country, apparently loosely based on Indonesia.
Throughout the unending automatic gunfire and martial arts displays, deep in the background lurks a mysterious Russian surveillance team, airborne nearby. Although there are numerous cuts to the former Soviet KGB group overlooking events, their motives remain unclear.
John Malkovich is a solid addition to a supporting cast that most moviegoers will be otherwise largely unfamiliar. He plays the head of the top-secret tactical command unit that attempts to determine whether a foreign “low-level” police officer has reliable data on the locations of several radioactive cesium isotope dirty bombs placed in major cities across the globe. Each device renders the ability to make an entire city uninhabitable by disseminating a nasty, toxic power that just might make your skin fall off.
Laura Cohan, probably best known for her work on “The Walking Dead,” is a formidable presence in the film. Incredibly – or perhaps absurdly – she is the mother of a young daughter, tenuously hanging on to the relationship by the barest of threads. We see her ex-husband, played by director Peter Berg, only over a video phone as he tries to extricate his dysfunctional ex-wife from contact with their daughter. Her role is extremely physical, and she comports herself admirably. Ronda Rousey also weighs in during this action movie that seems to suit her talents well.
“Mile 22” is the fourth collaboration between Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg, whose other joint efforts include “Lone Survivor,” Patriots Day,” and “Deepwater Horizon.” Though the body counts and incessant action strain credibility, there is hardly time to notice. The film benefits from generous doses of humor distributed evenly throughout. At a breezy one-hour and thirty-five minutes, the ride is over before you know it – and clearly positions itself as but the first installment in a likely series of sequels.
In theaters Friday, August 17th
