'The Wall' review: Aaron Taylor-Johnson is on point in this Tense, tight, bracing film!


7.8/10
The Wall is a war movie set in Iraq. Although it centers on just two characters (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, oh plus the voice of death as a third) and is set in one location over the course of one day.

This kind of compact storytelling can be really difficult to pull off, but Dwain Worrell's screenplay makes it look rather easy; this is a tense, tight, bracing film, recalling many "B" movie classics. Worrell's work comes without any flashbacks or anything that takes viewers (us) away from the immediate action, but it still manages to reveal crucial background details in a convincing way.

Director Doug Liman turns in surprising, no-frills work here, closer to The Bourne Identity than to anything else in his filmography. He does revert to hand-held camerawork from time to time (no matter what film it is I'm still not a lover of that), but he also expertly establishes the entire space so that nothing ever jolts us out of the action. Liman also effectively ramps up the mood with a powerful suggestion of heat and exhaustion, which you can see perfectly done by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, he is sensational in this film. Ever since I saw his award-winning performance in Nocturnal Animals I've really seen him in a different light, I knew he was talented before but WOW that film has changed him for the better. Once more he showed us viewers what he really can do, for me he made it all feel so real, I just wanted to keep watching, he really drew me in and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Now onto the downers: I hate John Cena, he really isn't an actor, well a good one anyway (good wrestler/ s*** actor). He makes everything he appears in, corny. You will see what i mean (sorry Cena fans). I also didn't like the unconventional war ending (obviously) at the end. All in all really solid effort apart from a few minor things it was a good short film. 7.8/10

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