Mile 22 (2018) * *

Directed by:  Peter Berg

Starring:  Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey, Iko Uwais, Lauren Cohan

In Mile 22, Mark Wahlberg and company play an ultra-secret elite tactical squad which destroys America's enemies in the most conspicuous ways possible.    How secret do they expect to remain if they engage in protracted gun battles in broad daylight with tons of witnesses around?   The "Overwatch", led by Jimmy Silva (Wahlberg) on the ground and Mother (Malkovich) as the eye in the sky keeping tabs on things via satellites, drones, and radio, is brought in to handle dirty government business they don't want on the books.    So deep is their cover, they have to "resign" from their front CIA jobs in order to undertake these missions.    Considering the explosions, gunfire, blood, guts, broken limbs, and death which occur trying to infiltrate a Russian safe house or delivering a spy to safety, don't you think this is like the U.S. government using a shotgun to kill a mosquito?

But Overwatch exists and it performs operations which your average CIA ops could do with a lot less hassle.    Isn't it Overwatch's extreme fortune that the local police stays away long enough so they can shoot bad guys, blow things up, and then get away?    It's as if the cops are saying: "Do your thing guys, take your time, we'll mop up when you're done,"   Mile 22 opens with the gang staking out a Russian safe house in the middle of an idyllic American suburban neighborhood.    With drones flying overhead, other agents on the ground, and Jimmy and sniper partner Sam (Rousey) waiting as snipers in a ditch in the heavily wooded backyard, the operation appears to be successful at first, until an unaccounted for glitch happens causing deaths and the house to explode.    Overwatch is somehow able to spin the mess so the media reports it was a Russian on Russian attack.   My question is, did Jimmy and Sam have to dig the ditch for them to hide out in, or was it conveniently there for them already?   My second question is, why would the Russians pick a house to hide out in which doesn't even have a backyard fence?

The action then shifts to a Southeast Asia country, when Jimmy and company (working for the embassy there) encounter a spy who has been a reliable source for information on local terrorists developing a powder which could make Hiroshima look like a firecracker.    The spy has a disk (again with a disk) which will self-destruct in eight hours containing valuable information tracing the sources of this explosive, and the spy Li Noor (Uwais) proposes a deal:  Get me out of the country and I'll give you the code to prevent the disk's detonation.    The local government wants Noor delivered to them, and soon send in assassins to take out Noor, which is a bad idea for the assassins.

Mile 22 is ultra-violent and ultra-silly.   Director Berg stages the action sequences well enough, and Wahlberg is a cheerfully intense and profane protagonist, with Uwais providing some unexpected depth as "the package" who could be another member of Overwatch in an alternate universe.    But, Mile 22 only engages in spurts.    Those who love loud action will get what they paid for.    Mile 22 is disposable and not one which is remembered much when you leave the theater.    Which isn't good for a movie which leaves open the possibility of a sequel.    I wish they wrapped everything up neatly in this one.