Mile 22 review: Maybe Mark Wahlberg needs a little more time in his cryo-chamber
What a wonderful time to write about Mark Wahlberg. He announced this week that he wakes up at 2.30am every morning to squeeze in workout after workout, allowing for recovery sessions in his own, personal cryo-chamber; he enjoys “family time” when his kids are at school; he luxuriates in the shower for 90-minutes at a time. Since the fall from grace of Shia LaBeouf, Wahlberg is surely Hollywood’s greatest performance art project.
It’s a shame his latest movie is total guff. Following successful collaborations on Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day, director Peter Berg and Mark ‘please look at my biceps’ Wahlberg team up again for a story about an elite military squad who must escort a key asset (Iko Uwais) to a government airbase.
Characterisation and plot are treated as inconveniences, with the first half stuffed to bursting with tedious exposition (and some baffling product placement for a co-parenting app).
Even if you fight your way through the hour’s worth of people telling you what they’re feeling and why, the second half is scant consolation. The action scenes are infuriatingly edited and shot on disorientating handheld cameras – bullets may well be flying, but it quickly becomes tedious, making the slim 90 minute running time feel like a slog.
Wahlberg is very much at home as the hyper-macho team leader – ‘please, please look at my biceps’ – but while he’s supposed to be troubled, he just comes across as abusive and manipulative. The suggestion his character might be bipolar is lazy and problematic, but thankfully not dwelled on for long.
He’s teamed up with Uwais, the breakout star of The Raid, in his most substantial Hollywood role yet. He gets to briefly flex both his action and acting muscles, providing some of the film’s more exciting moments, but he’s given little screen-time for an actor of his talents. Elsewhere, John Malkovich looks bored as the boss responsible for the baddies’ exposition.
While die-hard fans of Wahlberg’s biceps will find something to enjoy here, noting that his perfectly normal, definitely not made-up daily routine is totally paying off, Mile 22 is an otherwise disposable action-thriller that squanders the potential of both its premise and its cast.