Mile 22
Mile 22 is a 2018 American action thriller film directed by Peter Berg and written by Lea Carpenter, from a story by Carpenter and Graham Roland.[5] The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, and Ronda Rousey. It follows an elite CIA task force composed of paramilitary officers from the Special Activities Center's Ground Branch, that has to escort a high-priority asset 22 miles to an extraction point while being hunted by the government.[6][7] The film marks the fourth collaboration between Berg and Wahlberg, following Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day.
Mile 22 | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Peter Berg |
Produced by |
|
Screenplay by | Lea Carpenter |
Story by |
|
Starring |
|
Music by | Jeff Russo |
Cinematography | Jacques Jouffret |
Edited by |
|
Production company | |
Distributed by | STX Entertainment[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $35–60 million[2][3] |
Box office | $66.3 million[4] |
The film was released in the United States on August 17, 2018, and grossed $66 million worldwide. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes calls it a "thrill-deficient action thriller".[8]
Plot
CIA SAC/SOG officer James Silva leads a deniable strike team code-named Overwatch to infiltrate a Russian FSB safe house in the United States. Under the supervision of James Bishop, Overwatch's mission is to locate and destroy shipments of cesium before the highly toxic substance can be weaponized to kill thousands. The team kills the occupants, while Overwatch member Alice Kerr is wounded. One of the Russians falls out of an explosion after failing to save the cesium. Silva executes the boy despite his pleading, and everyone escapes.
Sixteen months later, Indocarr (fictional country loosely based on Indonesia) police officer Li Noor surrenders at the U.S. embassy to negotiate for passage out of the country in exchange for information on the remaining Cesium. Kerr vouches for Noor's reliability as an asset, but he refuses to reveal the password to an encrypted, self-destroying disc until he is safely on a plane. While Noor is being tested, Kerr tries to come to terms with her family issues. Axel, leading a team from the Indocarr State Intelligence Agency, arrives at the embassy and demands that Noor be handed over as Noor fends off an assassination attempt by Indocarr agents. Overwatch operative Sam Snow and Kerr arrive, shocked at his combat prowess, learning that Noor used to be Indocarr Special Forces.
Silva agrees to take Noor to an airplane 22 miles away. Noor reveals he is turning on the corrupt Indocarr government because it killed his family. Bishop's surveillance feed blacks out, then comes on again. During the blackout, Axel's men place bombs on the car, which explodes. While Silva's team helps fend off Axel's men, Sam is mortally injured. Silva gives Sam two grenades and leaves her, letting her suicide-attack the remaining henchmen.
Silva, Noor, Kerr, and another agent, Douglas, enter a restaurant. Silva sees Axel and walks toward him despite Bishop's orders. Axel tells James to give up Noor, but James refuses. While returning, he brushes past two girls and realizes that there is a grenade in the restaurant; he tackles civilians before it explodes. When the dust clears, Douglas is severely wounded, and Silva is attacked by the girls. Noor helps Silva kill them. While going to a safe house, Douglas dies while holding off Axel's men.
After taking cover in an apartment complex, Kerr is separated and meets a girl. Kerr and the girl escape harm by using booby-trapped grenades. Silva and Noor split up, fighting Axel and his henchmen. Silva and Noor meet up again, as well as the girl Kerr saved. She leads them to Kerr, who is losing against a henchman, until Noor kills him.
On the way to the air strip, the remaining team members briefly confront Axel. Exasperated, Silva has Overwatch destroy his car with a drone strike. The team barely makes it to the airplane. Li Noor and Kerr board the airplane to meet her family once again. While on the airplane, Bishop notices Noor's heart rate is accelerating, and it is revealed that Noor is not a double agent, but a triple agent working for the Russian government, and the boy Silva killed was the son of a high-ranking official within the Russian government. The official hired Noor to give Alice the wrong information, so they would trust him. Just as Alice realizes this, Bishop's Overwatch surveillance team is ambushed. The entire team is shot, only Bishop barely escapes and rests outside. Alice's fate is left unknown. Silva realizes this too late and details his experiences during a post-mission debriefing. Back at home, Silva puts up Noor's picture, vowing revenge.
Cast
- Mark Wahlberg as James Silva / "Child 1"[9]
- Lauren Cohan as Alice Kerr / "Child 2"[10]
- Iko Uwais as Li Noor[10]
- John Malkovich as James Bishop / "Mother"[10]
- Ronda Rousey as Samantha "Sam" Snow / "Child 3"[10]
- Nikolai Nikolaeff as Senior Lieutenant Aleksander Aslanov[11]
- Carlo Alban as William "Dougie" Douglas III/ "Child 4"[12]
- Chaerin "CL" Lee as Queen[13]
- Natasha Goubskaya as Vera Kuragina
- Sam Medina as Axel[12]
- Emily Skeggs as M.I.T.
- Terry Kinney[14] as Johnny Porter
- Poorna Jagannathan[14] as Ambassador Dorothy Brady
- Peter Berg as Lucas
- David Garelik as Anatole Kuragin
- Sean Avery as Assault One team member
- Cedric Gervais[15] as Greg Vickers / "Child 5"
- Alexandra Vino as Sergeant Thomas[14]
- Lateef Crowder as Liam
Production
On March 2, 2015, it was announced that Ronda Rousey and Iko Uwais were set to star in the action-thriller film Mile 22 scripted by Graham Roland, with Peter Berg attached as producer. WME Global was in talks to finance the film.[16] On July 2, 2015, Mark Wahlberg was cast in the film to play the male lead role, while Berg was also confirmed to direct the film for STX Entertainment. Berg produced the film along with Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson.[17] On March 28, 2017, Wahlberg and Berg announced that they are moving ahead with Mile 22 as a trilogy of films.[18] On November 7, 2017, Lauren Cohan was cast in the film.[19]
Principal photography on the film was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, in November and December 2017 under the working title Ground Branch Triple,[20] and in Colombia in the capital city Bogotá and its surroundings in January and February 2018.[21] On February 5, 2018, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos showed up during filming at one of the locations in Colombia. Director Peter Berg even had President Santos try to shoot one of the action sequences of the film.[22]
Release
The final trailer was released online on July 26, 2018.[23] The film was originally going to be released on August 3, 2018, but was pushed back two weeks to August 17, 2018.
Reception
Box office
Mile 22 grossed $37.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $28.7 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $66.3 million.[4]
In the United States and Canada, Mile 22 was released alongside Alpha, and was projected to gross around $17 million from 3,520 theaters in its opening weekend.[24] It made $5.3 million on its first day, including $1 million from Thursday night previews at 2,600 theaters. It went on to debut to $13.6 million, finishing third at the box office.[25] In its second weekend the film dropped to sixth place, making $6 million.[3]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 189 reviews and an average rating of 4.18/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mile 22 lets the bullets fly—and not much else—in a thrill-deficient action thriller whose title proves sadly fitting for a film that feels close to a marathon endurance test."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 63% positive score.[25]
Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "Berg, when he wants to be, is a surgical craftsman of chaos. Yet Mile 22 has little weight or resonance."[27] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Like an athlete who leaves it all on the field, the film leaves it all in the moment and on the screen, and there's really nothing to take away afterwards. There is nothing to think about, no nuances to contemplate, no connection with these characters who exist only in moments of hyper-tension and crisis, no greater truths to consider other than to prevail."[1] The performance of Uwais received some praise. Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times said, "As a performer and fight choreographer, Uwais delivers, with some extremely athletic and imaginative kills, mostly performed while handcuffed. It's also far and away Uwais's best acting performance in a film, and he almost makes Mile 22 worth it."[28] Brian Lowry of CNN stated, "In fact, Uwais' action sequences—fast paced and electric—are easily the highlight of a movie otherwise characterized by an abundance of automatic-weapons fire and tedious dialogue during the fleeting gaps between those bursts."[29] David Fear of Rolling Stone gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, criticizing the editing of the fight scenes and stating, "Why go through the trouble of giving Iko Uwais several fight scenes and editing them so that you can barely see the star inflict highly choreographed damage?...Mile 22 can give you chase scenes and bullet-ridden shoot-outs and evil Russians and lengthy diatribes. It can give you something approximating action. What it can't give you is a watchable action movie. That's where it truly fails to go the distance."[30]
References
- Todd McCarthy (August 16, 2018). "'Mile 22': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Lang, Brent (August 17, 2018). "Box Office: Mark Wahlberg's 'Mile 22' Picks Up $1 Million on Thursday Night". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 26, 2018). "'Why 'Happytime Murders' Reps A Solo Career B.O. Low For Melissa McCarthy In A 'Crazy Rich' Weekend – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
- "Mile 22 (2018)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- Shanley, Patrick (February 13, 2018). "Mark Wahlberg Action Film 'Mile 22' Gets July Release". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- Ernst, Douglas (August 14, 2018). "Peter Berg asked Mark Wahlberg to tap into 'Bannon intensity' for 'Mile 22'". Washington Times. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- "Mile 22 Featurette - Ground Branch (2018)". Trailer Addict. August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- "Mile 22 (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- Fraser, Kevin (April 24, 2018). "Check out the first images and poster for Mark Wahlberg's Mile 22". JoBlo.com. Joblo Media. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
- Crow, David (June 28, 2018). "Mile 22 Trailer, Release Date, Cast, Story Details, and Set Visit". Den of Geek!. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- Alexander, Jim (May 30, 2018). "Interview: Actor Nikolai Nikolaeff". Reel Talker. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- Giroux, Jack (June 5, 2018). "'Mile 22' Set Visit: Mark Wahlberg and His Team Get Sh*t Done". /Film. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- Sung, Ji-eun (May 18, 2018). "CL to play a killer in upcoming film". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- Billington, Alex (May 15, 2018). "Official Trailer for Gritty Action Movie 'Mile 22' with Mark Wahlberg". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- Gervais, Cedric [@CedricGervais] (August 2, 2018). "In theaters August 17th #mile22" (Tweet). Retrieved August 2, 2018 – via Twitter.
- Kroll, Justin (March 2, 2015). "Ronda Rousey, Sam Medina, Peter Berg and Iko Uwais Team on Action Pic 'Mile 22' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- Kit, Borys (July 2, 2015). "Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg Teaming Up for STX Action Movie 'Mile 22' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- McNary, Dave (March 28, 2017). "Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg Plan to Make Action Movie 'Mile 22' a Trilogy". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- Kit, Borys (November 7, 2017). "'Walking Dead' Star Lauren Cohan Joins Mark Walhberg in Action Movie 'Mile 22'". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
- Hensley, Ellie (September 21, 2017). "Report: Mark Wahlberg, Ronda Rousey movie to film in Atlanta". Atlanta Business Chronicle. American City Business Journals. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- "Mark Wahlberg y John Malkovich están en Bogotá para rodar una película" [Mark Wahlberg and John Malkovich are in Bogotá to shoot a movie]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). January 29, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- The City Paper Staff (February 5, 2018). "Santos turns up during Bogotá shoot of "Mile 22" starring Mark Wahlberg". The City Paper Bogotá. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- Foutch, Haleigh (July 26, 2018). "Final 'Mile 22' Trailer Teases Mark Wahlberg & Peter Berg's Action-Packed Thriller". Collider. Complex Media. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 14, 2018). "'Crazy Rich Asians' Could Hit $30M In 5-Day Opening; Fandango Presales Currently Besting 'Girls Trip'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 19, 2018). "'Crazy Rich Asians' Even Richer On Saturday With $10M+; Weekend Bling Now At $25M+ With $34M 5-Day Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- "Mile 22 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- Gleiberman, Owen (16 August 2018). "Film Review: 'Mile 22'". Variety (magazine).
- Walsh, Katie (August 16, 2018). "Review: Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg pack action-thriller 'Mile 22' with maximum overkill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- Lowry, Brian (August 16, 2018). "'Mile 22' loads up brutal action vehicle that misses the mark". CNN Entertainment. CNN. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- Fear, David (August 16, 2018). "'Mile 22' Review: Mark Wahlberg Action Thriller Feels Like 'InfoWars: The Movie'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
External links
- Mile 22 at IMDb
- Mile 22 at Box Office Mojo