The Wall is a 2017 American war thriller film directed by Doug Liman and written by Dwain Worrell. The film follows two American soldiers (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena) trapped by an Iraqi sniper. Produced by Amazon Studios, it was released on May 12, 2017, by Roadside Attractions. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences and grossed $4.5 million against a $3 million budget.

REAR COVER

Doug Liman, the Director of Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity and Mrs and Mrs Smith, takes us on a heart-pounding journey to a barren warzone, where two soldiers - Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals, Avengers: Age of Ultron) and WWE superstar John Cena (Trainwreck) - have been isolated from their battalion and pinned down by a lethal Iraqi sniper. The only thing keeping them alive is the crumbling wall that separates them. A taut, gripping and deadly psychological thriller where staying alive is the end game.

CAST

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergeant Allen "Ize" Isaac

John Cena as Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews

Laith Nakli as Juba (voice)

PRODUCTION

On November 12, 2014, it was announced that Amazon Studios had bought its first ever original spec script by Dwain Worrell, about an American sharpshooter trapped behind a wall by an Iraqi sniper. Worrell wrote his screenplay while teaching English in China. Worrell drew from his background as a playwright to flesh out the second act of the screenplay, which focuses on Isaac's conversation with the sniper. Worrell said, "What interested me about it was the simple conversation between two people. That could almost be had on a New York City park bench with two guys playing chess. There is that sort of dynamic between the characters in the film."The script appeared in the 2014 Black List of most liked un-produced screenplays.

On March 29, 2016, it was reported that Doug Liman had been hired to direct the psychological thriller.[8] Glen Basner's FilmNation Entertainment handled the film's international sales at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, allowing for a theatrical release.

On May 9, 2016, Variety confirmed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had joined the film's cast to play Isaac, the junior American soldier. On November 29, it was reported that Amazon had partnered with Roadside Attractions to distribute the film, which would also star John Cena, and the film would now follow two American soldiers. Amazon produced the film along with Big Indie Pictures, and Picrow, and Dave Bartis.

Principal photography on the film ended in November 2016 with a release of first look image. US Ranger sniper Nicholas Irving was an on-set adviser for the film.

CRITICAL RESPONSE

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65% based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Wall makes the most of its limitations -- albeit perhaps not quite enough to stretch its tight-focused action into a consistently gripping feature-length thriller." On Metacritic, the film has a score 56 out of 100, based 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Common Sense Media has given a rating of 4/5, while the Washington Post has given a rating of 3/4.

REVIEW

By The Geek Show

Thankfully not a film about Trump’s intentions regarding the US/Mexico border, The Wall is, in fact, a tense, psychological war movie from director Doug Liman. The Wall is essentially a three-hander (though in truth the vast chunk of its running time sees it operate more or less as a two-hander) between two US sergeants; the ‘spotter’ Allen ‘Eyes’ Isaac (Aaron-Taylor-Johnson) and the sniper Shane Matthews (the man-mountain that is WWE wrestler John Cena), and an unseen enemy marksman, the mythical ‘Juba’ (voiced by Laith Nakli). The two Americans have been sent to investigate the massacre of some civilian contractors and their military liaison at a pipeline construction site in the desert of Iraq and the film commences at the end of their overwatch whereupon Matthews gives the site the all clear, deeming it safe to approach. As he proceeds towards the site, Matthews is shot and injured, forcing Isaac to take cover behind the film’s titular dilapidated, crumbling wall. From there, the panicked soldier must try to figure out a rescue plan for himself and his injured comrade, whilst at the same time conduct a battle of wits over the radio with the relentless, calculating Iraqi sniper whose accurate, deadly marksmanship has made him a legend that the American military lives in fear of.

It’s surprising that the 52-year-old director of such big hitters as The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow and the recent American Made is responsible for The Wall because (and I don’t mean this as a criticism) this feels like the work of a young film school graduate, an extension perhaps of his graduation project. There’s something intrinsically low key about The Wall‘s intimate set-up, and something independently-minded about its overall desire to subvert audience expectations that makes it a surprise move from an established action director like Liman. The film’s inherent youthfulness actually stems from Afro-American playwright Dwain Worrell, who was teaching English in China when he sold his screenplay on spec to Amazon Studios in 2014. From there, it appeared on that year’s Black List for most-liked unproduced screenplays and, perhaps off the back of that year’s American Sniper, the film was given the green light.

I haven’t actually seen American Sniper, but I imagine this film to be more up my street than Eastwood’s offering. Jingoism is not on offer here; the unseen enemy sniper continually asks his prey just what they are still doing in his country now that George W Bush has declared the war to be over – a question that the dutiful ‘regular Joe’ soldier Isaac is unable to answer. Worrell draws on his playwright credentials to deliver a taut study of human interaction, with Isaac and ‘Juba’ circling around one another like chess grandmasters under the baking desert sun. It’s an eerie film that plays to our natural fear of a hidden menace lurking somewhere on the horizon determined to do us harm, and Liman captures both the tough conditions and the edgy atmosphere with a suitably visceral, terse flair.

Of the cast, Aaron Taylor-Johnson delivers a fine and often underplayed performance which is rewarding when you consider an actor’s natural tendency to showboat when they’re effectively both the film’s lead and the only person on screen for significant amounts of time. Being completely ignorant of the world of WWE, I confess to knowing absolutely nothing of John Cena’s previous career and was only familiar with him from his small role in the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy Sisters prior to this, but I will say he is very competent and believable in his role and a far better actor than Hulk Hogan proved to be with the glut of dismal family comedies the wrestler appeared in during the late ’80s and ’90s when I was a child and I last gave a damn about the sport. It’s also amazing how much of a character both the script and the actor Laith Nakli can create with just a vocal performance, delivering a truly unsettling, remorseless bogeyman figure.

At just a little shy of 90 minutes, The Wall knows not to outstay its welcome and for that I am grateful. The ending may divide opinion, and it’s perhaps fair to say there’s an element of the Carpenteresque film school B movie about it, but personally, I liked it and found it packed just the right amount of punch.