206.
Mile 22
Mark Wahlberg brings us some more quick wit, attitude and action as he turns away from some Transformers and instead becomes an elite intelligence officer who is trying to smuggle a mysterious witness out of Indonesia by any means necessary. With quite an array of a cast, John Malkovich and Ronda Rousey included, this movie doesn't scream masterpiece but a decent looking action/crime story that has the potential to be forgotten. Let's get into it and find out if this is going to be a mile too far.
The story begins with our team of agents staking out and trying to infiltrate a known safe house for the Russian FSB and their agents. Alice and William pretend to be a lost couple, looking for an address as John Malkovich's character, Mother, watches over them by satellite. Their job is to retain the cesium that the Russians may be holding and using to create weapons.
The story begins with our team of agents staking out and trying to infiltrate a known safe house for the Russian FSB and their agents. Alice and William pretend to be a lost couple, looking for an address as John Malkovich's character, Mother, watches over them by satellite. Their job is to retain the cesium that the Russians may be holding and using to create weapons.
Wahlberg's character, James Silva and another team moving are closing on the house from the back begin the breach and after some bullet, a finding of a hidden room and plenty of killing, we draw to a close as the team burns the house down. The news of the job travels fast amongst some circles and even more so regarding the fact that someone called Anatole was involved. We then get our opening credits, as we see James Silva's life growing up. Recruited by Black Ops not long after the death of his family and the movie is broken up into pieces of Silva giving a testimony about an operation that had taken place.
16 months later and the team is now in Indonesia, where the main part of the movie will be taking place. Still hunting for the cesium, Alice, played by Lauren Cohen, says that she has a source that can help them. Silva though is very hotheaded. He wants action now, rather than sitting around waiting for information. Silva turns his attention to a woman who walks in, needing help because the government wants to seize her assets. Alice, on the other hand, has to speak to her ex-husband who won't let her see her daughter. They all catch a break though, as a local police officer comes to the Embassy's gates to surrender himself and a disc he is carrying that he claims holds information about where the cesium is being held. In return, he wants safe passage out of the country. Li Noor is his name and with no kind of emotion on his face, he passes over the disc but tells the team that it will be wiped in a matter of hours if he isn't granted asylum in the States.
16 months later and the team is now in Indonesia, where the main part of the movie will be taking place. Still hunting for the cesium, Alice, played by Lauren Cohen, says that she has a source that can help them. Silva though is very hotheaded. He wants action now, rather than sitting around waiting for information. Silva turns his attention to a woman who walks in, needing help because the government wants to seize her assets. Alice, on the other hand, has to speak to her ex-husband who won't let her see her daughter. They all catch a break though, as a local police officer comes to the Embassy's gates to surrender himself and a disc he is carrying that he claims holds information about where the cesium is being held. In return, he wants safe passage out of the country. Li Noor is his name and with no kind of emotion on his face, he passes over the disc but tells the team that it will be wiped in a matter of hours if he isn't granted asylum in the States.
Elsewhere, we finally catch a glimpse of some villains. A group of Russain agents led by a female named Vera. They are monitoring Li's location as they are definitely planning on having the bugger killed.
Li is taken to a medical room for tests as some Indonesian intelligence officers arrive and demand that Li is handed over to them but the Ambassador doesn't allow it. Back in the medical room, Li is set upon by some agents disguised as doctors and even whilst handcuffed, he smashed the shit out of them and stands down once he's done. Alice and Sam find out that he was once Special Forces. The plan is to move Li to an airstrip to get him out of the country and this airstrip is 22 miles away, hence the movie title. They are going to take a convoy or armoured cars, Bishop or 'mother' is going to watch from every camera going and we even learn out why Li is doing this. He is going against the government because they are the reason that his family are dead. Finally, we hit the road and are instantly in trouble. Axel, the man in charge of the Indonesian Special Ops from early, sets a team on motorbikes to plant explosives on the cars. Some of the team are killed as the bullets then begin to fly on the streets. Sam, played by Rousey is badly injured and even with the help of Li, the team is ready to escape as more of Axel's men set in. Silva leaves Sam with some grenades, knowing she isn't going to live and so that she can take some enemies with her. Rouse wasn't around for long.
The team head into a restaurant and take residence for a while with the owner that they know will protect them. Outside, Axel is waiting for a chat with Silva and once again he asked for Li to be handed over. When Silva heads back inside following a simple 'no' to Axel, he brushes past to girls and notices they have grenades. Another attack brings injuries and the team is once again on the run. One of the gang, Douglas, picks up some bad injuries but Bishop doesn't want failure and orders the team to get to the strip now.
Li is taken to a medical room for tests as some Indonesian intelligence officers arrive and demand that Li is handed over to them but the Ambassador doesn't allow it. Back in the medical room, Li is set upon by some agents disguised as doctors and even whilst handcuffed, he smashed the shit out of them and stands down once he's done. Alice and Sam find out that he was once Special Forces. The plan is to move Li to an airstrip to get him out of the country and this airstrip is 22 miles away, hence the movie title. They are going to take a convoy or armoured cars, Bishop or 'mother' is going to watch from every camera going and we even learn out why Li is doing this. He is going against the government because they are the reason that his family are dead. Finally, we hit the road and are instantly in trouble. Axel, the man in charge of the Indonesian Special Ops from early, sets a team on motorbikes to plant explosives on the cars. Some of the team are killed as the bullets then begin to fly on the streets. Sam, played by Rousey is badly injured and even with the help of Li, the team is ready to escape as more of Axel's men set in. Silva leaves Sam with some grenades, knowing she isn't going to live and so that she can take some enemies with her. Rouse wasn't around for long.
The team head into a restaurant and take residence for a while with the owner that they know will protect them. Outside, Axel is waiting for a chat with Silva and once again he asked for Li to be handed over. When Silva heads back inside following a simple 'no' to Axel, he brushes past to girls and notices they have grenades. Another attack brings injuries and the team is once again on the run. One of the gang, Douglas, picks up some bad injuries but Bishop doesn't want failure and orders the team to get to the strip now.
Instead, they head to a safe house that Alice knows inside a massive block of flats. As some enter, Silva and Doulas stay outside to fend of Axel and his lot. Silva is then next to enter as Douglas is taken down and shot in the head. Inside, Alice has a run in with a henchman and almost gets killed before Li finds a gun and saves her. This guy really wants to escape.
We have finally made it to the airstrip, after a short car chase and Bishop or 'mother' sending a drone to take out Axel in his car. Getting onto the plane, Li gives up the code to unlock that disc he first handed over. As Li walks up the steps, he tells Silva to 'Say hi to Mother for me'. Mind melt! Before Silva can ask what that meant, the door is closed and the plane is on its way. Bishop or Mother can see that Li's heart is racing. The disc turns out to contain nothing other than a picture of Anatole. This Anatole guy was the one running the Russian house at the beginning. His mother has hired Vera and the gang to kill the people responsible for killing her son. Li has been working as a triple agent, working the Americans so that everyone can be taken down and killed. A team is sent in to kill Overwatch and Mother, as Li turns to Alice, who is on the plane with him and utters the words, 'Gotcha'.
We have finally made it to the airstrip, after a short car chase and Bishop or 'mother' sending a drone to take out Axel in his car. Getting onto the plane, Li gives up the code to unlock that disc he first handed over. As Li walks up the steps, he tells Silva to 'Say hi to Mother for me'. Mind melt! Before Silva can ask what that meant, the door is closed and the plane is on its way. Bishop or Mother can see that Li's heart is racing. The disc turns out to contain nothing other than a picture of Anatole. This Anatole guy was the one running the Russian house at the beginning. His mother has hired Vera and the gang to kill the people responsible for killing her son. Li has been working as a triple agent, working the Americans so that everyone can be taken down and killed. A team is sent in to kill Overwatch and Mother, as Li turns to Alice, who is on the plane with him and utters the words, 'Gotcha'.
The movie ends with Silva finishing his debriefing that we have seen shorts glimpses of. The last scene is of Silva putting up a picture of Li, maybe symbolising him planning revenge.
I hate to say that I'm right but in my opinion, I am. It was a movie that contained a decent, if forgettable storyline, for most of the movie but the ending actually gave me something different and this is the reason why the score isn't too bad. I've been saying for a long time how we always get a predictable ending, where the good guys always get the win. This time it was really, really refreshing to get some villains on top by the end. This was the only thing that truly stood out. There were plenty of actions scenes, whether they be with weapons of hand to hand combat, which kept the audience entertained but a lot has been seen before. Wahlberg gave a very Mark Wahlberg account of himself. This meaning that there was plenty of bad attitude to anyone that didn't agree with his character and once again, by the end, it was good to see his comeuppance. That's not saying I'm not a fan of his, just that the kind of character he played usually always comes out on top.
I hate to say that I'm right but in my opinion, I am. It was a movie that contained a decent, if forgettable storyline, for most of the movie but the ending actually gave me something different and this is the reason why the score isn't too bad. I've been saying for a long time how we always get a predictable ending, where the good guys always get the win. This time it was really, really refreshing to get some villains on top by the end. This was the only thing that truly stood out. There were plenty of actions scenes, whether they be with weapons of hand to hand combat, which kept the audience entertained but a lot has been seen before. Wahlberg gave a very Mark Wahlberg account of himself. This meaning that there was plenty of bad attitude to anyone that didn't agree with his character and once again, by the end, it was good to see his comeuppance. That's not saying I'm not a fan of his, just that the kind of character he played usually always comes out on top.
No comments:
Post a Comment