Mile 22 (2018)
Mile 22 is a 2018 American action thriller film directed by Peter Berg and screenplay by Lea Carpenter, from a story by Carpenter and Graham Roland. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, and Ronda Rousey. It follows an elite top secret CIA unit composed of paramilitary officers from the Special Activities Division’s Ground Branch, that has to escort a high-priority asset, a rogue police officer, 22 miles to an extraction point while being hunted by the government. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Berg, Wahlberg, and Malkovich, following Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day. The film was released in the United States on August 17, 2018, by STX Entertainment, and grossed $66 million worldwide. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes calls it a “thrill-deficient action thriller”.
Plot.
CIA Agent James Silva leads a top secret CIA Special Activities Division unit, code-named Overwatch, to infiltrate a Russian Federal Security Service (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 unit kills the occupants, while Overwatch Agent Alice Kerr is wounded. One of the Russians, an 18-year-old named Anatole Kuragin, falls out of a window during an explosion after failing to save the cesium. Silva executes Kuragin despite his pleading, and everyone escapes. Sixteen months later, Indocarr (a fictional country loosely based on Indonesia) police officer Li Noor surrenders at the United States Embassy to negotiate for passage out of the country in exchange for information on the remaining cesium.RELATED:
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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 government agents. Overwatch Agent 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 a bomb on the car, which explodes.
While Silva’s unit 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 Overwatch Agent, William 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 young girl. Kerr and the girl escape harm by using booby-trapped grenades
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. 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. On March 28, 2017, Wahlberg and Berg announced that they are moving ahead with Mile 22 as a trilogy of films. On November 7, 2017, Lauren Cohan was cast in the film. Principal photography on the film was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, in November and December 2017 under the working title Ground Branch Triple. They also shot film in capital city Bogotá and its surroundings in Colombia in January and February 2018.
Release.
The final trailer was released online on July 26, 2018. The film was originally going to be released on August 3, 2018, but was pushed back two weeks to August 17, 2018. Mile 22 was to be the first of a possible trilogy. While there is no news on a third film, the second is reportedly still in development, with delays due to the Covid pandemic, along with the need for possible re-writes to the story as a result of critical reaction to the first film.