FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Wall
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Laith Nakli
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins

What It Is: When sergeants Isaac (Taylor-Johnson) and Matthews (Cena) are on a mission to check out the killing of several military contractors they discover that there’s a sniper out there. Picking off everyone at a distance. When Isaac discovers that there’s a wall that can give him space to find this sniper named Juba (Nakli) is an elite killing machine and he has his eyes set on assuring to remind these American soldiers that the war isn’t over…for them.

What We Think: An absolute surprise! Liman crafts a fairly thrilling war drama. It’s simple premise couples well with the tight camera work and shot selection. Taylor-Johnson is good working a majority of the film on his own. For his part, I have to give professional wrestler John Cena credit he’s pretty damned impressive. There isn’t much to the film. It’s simply a character study of one man being outsmarted and out gunned by an opponent, he perceives as inferior. Juba though is aware of precisely what he’s doing. His plan is unclear but it seems like this cat and mouse game is one he’s played many times before.

Our Grade: B-, A slim 88-minute runtime helps a film that could’ve easily become a disaster quickly. Instead, it subverts some of the tropes of a war movie while poking fun at the right ones. I can easily recommend this to fans of war films. In addition if you’re looking for something to watch and don’t have a ton of time this is an excellent choice. Also, John Cena wears camo in this movie does that make him double invisible? Tweet me with your thoughts on this. Regardless this is a film nice wrapped in a quickened packet.