War is hell, for that there is no question. That pitch-perfect phrase could also not be better to describe the terrifying and thrilling manic mayhem of Doug Liman’s The Wall. It is short. Three simple words, that is all. War. Is. Hell. Liman rolls out his Iraq War battle flick in three succinct acts that plays out over 90 minutes of crackling, explosive and enthralling drama that pits two American soldiers (Aaron Taylor Johnson and John Cena) against a single Iraqi sniper, Juba (Laith Nakli), who is never seen. He is horrifyingly absent from the deserted desert landscape.
Cena’s Matthews and Taylor-Johnson’s Isaac are an expert marksman and his eyes, respectively. They are scoping a scene 500 yards away. Pipeline workers strewn the baron land while private military contractors join them as perished pieces of human beings are littered throughout the area. From afar, with only their binoculars and Matthews’ scope to look around, they search. Did one person do this? If so, where are they? Heck, are they even still here?
Doubting their presence after almost 24 hours of sitting belly down in the sand, Matthews decides to call it and heads down to the casualties and investigate. As soon as he approaches a few former soldiers/current private security members near a blown-out school with only one crumbling wall remaining, a shot rings out. He’s hit in the leg. Matthews is down and Isaac grabs his weapon and races towards his fallen comrade to help and retaliate.
But… at whom and again, where?
As soon as Isaac gets near his partner, shots pierce his radio, his knee and the lens of his binoculars. Desperate, Isaac crawls frantically behind The Wall. It is there, in this initial 10 minutes of this instant war movie classic, our frantic battle film becomes a psychological thriller. Juba has a radio and his English is impeccable. He calls out to Isaac and thus begins our cat and mouse taunting that goes as deep as any weapon could impart. These wounds are mental, and they are much more serious and deadly than anything physical.
Isaac and Juba trade verbal volleys. But, do not be mistaken… the native to this land always has the upper hand. Slowly but surely, he is sizing up his opponent. Through Isaac’s earpiece, his opponent in this fight to the death is literally getting inside his head and that may be the most dangerous aspect of this showdown. All the while, Isaac is trying to communicate with Matthews and gather his condition and how his fellow warrior can be used as a chess piece in this master class of military maneuvers that will only end when one side or the other ceases breathing.
One can see how The Wall was a Blacklist script. Dwain Worrell has weaved a web of war that is unlike any we have ever seen. This tale has bounced around Hollywood, always almost being made. Thus, it landed on the coveted Blacklist of screenplays that must be made, but haven’t. Eventually it found a production company and a director in Liman willing to take a chance on a story that only has three characters, with only two you ever see. They believed that audiences would respond to this story. And they will.
The Wall is a simple story, but with a profound centerpiece — the will to survive, one that every single soul on the planet can relate to and embrace. Through Taylor-Johnson and Cena, we have two Americans that the collective witnessing this film utterly clamor for to return home safely. They are thousands of miles away from their home, fighting for their country and countrymen and women. All the while, there is an enemy who is faceless, but not baseless. He has been made to be the villain, not born that way. Juba is highly educated, we learn. War, tragedy and subsequent training have turned him into a killing machine. Sympathy also lies with him and that is largely why the tension throughout The Wall is so high. These souls have landed in the crosshairs of a fate that is bombastic and inhales the blood of innocents to live. War is hell, yes, but it is also complicated. That is another reason why The Wall grabs its witnesses by the heart, intellect and innate human nature and never lets you go through its shocking conclusion.
Taylor-Johnson, fresh off his Golden Globe win for Nocturnal Animals, is commanding. This is his movie, from opening moments to its bitter end. It is in Liman’s astounding work that the actor turns in his greatest performance to date and teases the greatness that is yet to come from this young thespian. Liman, again, shows he is a master of painting a picture full of tension, emotion and compelling characters that leaves us with jaws dropped. The Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity filmmaker has lit a fire with The Wall that combusts with electric energy that permeates shockwaves through his audience, long after the lights come up.
Grade: A