Mark Wahlberg's $66M Action Thriller That's Part Of A 5-Movie Trend Is Now On Netflix
A Mark Wahlberg thriller is streaming on Netflix, and it remains a solid action movie within the genre. There are a lot of Wahlberg movies on the streaming service right now, from the extremely funny The Other Guys and the Netflix original Spenser Confidential to his brand-new addition to the streamer, the dog survival movie Arthur the King. However, one of his better movies on the service is one that was overlooked when it was released.
Mile 22 is an action movie by Peter Berg that stars Wahlberg as James Silva, the field leader of Overwatch, a top-secret CIA Special Activities Center unit. His unit is tasked with escorting a rogue police officer in the fictional country of Indocarr 22 miles to an extraction point where he plans to release information to the United States in exchange for passage out of the country. However, the Indocarr government is hunting him down.
With a supporting cast that includes John Malkovich, Iko Uwais, Lauren Cohan, and Ronda Rousey, the movie was a modest box office success upon release and received a mostly negative critical response, with a 23% Rotten Tomatoes rating. However, the main complaints were that the movie was all action with little story, which might make it a perfect Netflix watch for action-thriller lovers.
Mile 22 Is Streaming On Netflix: Why It's Worth Watching
Mile 22 offers up a high-octane thriller where a team of highly trained special ops agents has to defend one man from an entire antagonistic government, but the twists and turns the story takes are enough to make it more than its reputation might suggest. There is even a hint at the end that could have led to a sequel if the box office and response had been higher when it was released.
However, this is a movie that measures up well with the current slate of action thrillers that hit streaming every month, and its spot on Netflix offers up the best shot at finding its audience all these years later. It doesn't have the wit of Wahlberg's Spenser Confidential or the charm of The Other Guys, but it does offer all the action beats that a viewer could want.
There was even a Mile 22 sequel planned, since the movie ends with Wahlberg's agent planning revenge on the man who double-crossed him and his team, but that never happened. Interestingly, Berg said that there was a sequel in development before Mile 22 was ever released, but the movie's struggles made it unlikely. That said, Netflix offers audiences a chance to reevaluate this movie years after its initial release.
One Of Mark Wahlberg's Biggest Career Trends Led To Mile 22
Mile 22 does hold a place in a five-movie trend that has defined much of Wahlberg's career over the last decade. It was one of five consecutive films that Berg directed with the actor in the lead role. This started with Lone Survivor in 2013, a war movie where Wahlberg played a member of the Navy SEALs who was stranded on a counter-insurgency mission. That went so well that Berg didn't make another movie without Wahlberg, a streak that didn't end until his next release, The Mosquito Bowl.
The two followed up in 2016 with Deepwater Horizon, another film based on a true story, this one about a man trapped at the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That same year, they teamed up for another movie based on a real event, this one called Patriots Day. That movie was based on the Boston Marathon Bombings and followed a police officer trying to deal with the aftermath.
In 2018, the two teamed up for Mile 22, and then in 2020 they worked together on the Netflix movie Spenser Confidential, based on the character created by Robert B. Parker. Wahlberg has continued to work since then, but Berg's filmmaking slowed down after that, with his work seen on TV in shows like Painkiller and American Primeval.