Instep brings you 5 films which appear to have inspired Mark Wahlberg’s character in Mile 22. Needless to say, we do not approve.
It seems that Hollywood is running out of ideas as they are either stuck in remakes, reboots or films that have been inspired by classics and Peter Berg’s Mile 22 falls in the third category. The Mark Wahlberg starrer is the actor’s fourth collaboration with the ‘Bergs’ (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day) but the first that isn’t inspired by an original event. Not only is it not inspired by real events, but it is as far from being original as it can get. Instep brings you films which appear to have inspired Mark Wahlberg’s character in Mile 22; needless to say, we do not approve.
First, what happens in Mile 22 (2018)
A high-value asset needs to be transported from the US Embassy in Indonesia to an airstrip 22 miles away from where a plane will land to pick up the package. The asset has information regarding a deadly gas that can wipe out multiple cities if released. Mark Wahlberg and his team of highly-trained operatives are given the task to take the asset to the plane and survive the assault of those who don’t want the information to leave the country.
The Gauntlet (1977)
Clint Eastwood plays an honest cop who is tasked to escort a witness with ties to the mob to testify in court. The witness – Sandra Locke – is a prostitute and knows things that could bring down the Police Commissioner and that’s why the whole police force is there to stop them as none of them want the ‘escort’ to testify. Eastwood directs this flick that went onto become one of the highest grossing films of the year.
SWAT (2003)
SWAT is called upon after a French drug lord announces on national TV that he will ‘give 100 million dollars’ to whoever helps him break out of prison. Every bad guy wants to be rich through this scheme but SWAT has other ideas as they manage to deliver the package as per instructions. What if they had to lose a team member to greed, a few others wounded and destroy a couple of things here and there to save the day. Based on the popular series from the 1970s, the film has Samuel L Jackson and Jeremy Renner (Nick Fury and Hawkeye) in pre-Avengers roles and Josh Charles in pre The Good Wife avatar and Michelle Rodriguez in her third major appearance after The Fast And The Furious and Resident Evil.
Khakee (2004)
Bollywood made an entry into this tried-and-tested plot with Rajkumar Santoshi’s thriller featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Aishwarya Rai among others. Here, a team comprising young and old police officers, led by Big B, is tasked to safely transport a ‘dangerous’ terrorist who in reality is an honest doctor who refused to bow down to corrupt individuals. Despite betrayal, revenge and death of the witness, the team manages to apprehend the culprits, with Amitabh Bachchan playing the Angry Young Man for the final time, but to perfection, again.
16 Blocks (2006)
During his hiatus from the Die Hard series, Bruce Willis experimented with a role that was unlike John McClane. Teaming with Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner, Willis’ character here is asked to escort a witness in police corruption case to a courthouse 16 blocks away. Since the witness’s testimony would send the corrupt cops to prison, they try to persuade their honest friend into first backing down and then taking him down. However, those who know him know that, McClane or no McClane, Bruce Willis never backs down and no one takes him down.
Shahenshah (1988)
It’s a common misconception that Amitabh Bachchan was portraying Batman in this Tinnu Anand flick; he did however play a dishonest cop by day and vigilante at night. However, the final half an hour of the film was inspired heavily from The Gauntlet as Big B’s character promised the bad guys that he would bring the key witness to the court even if it meant doing the impossible. With the henchmen in stop-the-honest-cop mode, Big B escorted his sweetheart’s mother (Aruna Irani) to the court with help from Pran, who played his mentor and uncle in the film. Needless to say, the bad guys lost because you don’t mess with Big B and get away with it!
– Omair Alavi is a freelance broadcast journalist who can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com
