I think you just described every Wahlberg film hes ever been in.

@OddRob said:

I think you just described every Wahlberg film hes ever been in.

I can see where you're coming from, but it seems to be way more blatant in this film than in his usual work. Then again it just seems to be a really poor film with a really terrible script and/or director who manages to make each character in the movie feel like some sort a caricature.

Not to mention they did shaky cam/cut everything up for most of the fight scenes...you do NOT do that when you fucking have Iko Uwais as a main character! You put on a wide lens and take some really nice long takes. Dude is legit and amazing.

Some slight SPOILERS below:

Of all the stupid scenes in this movie I can't help but to wonder at the scene in the beginning when John Malkovich is in the "Overwatch" room with the computer guys and spontaneously goes into a overly dramatic monologue:" We have a team of seven operators. They are no longer employees of the US government. They are engaged in a higher form of patriotism". Like, who the hell are you talking to John Malkovich? The people in the room have obviously worked with you before in similar missions and know who the guys are and what the drill is already. You don't need to tell them something they already know. Obviously he is just giving this painfully pointless speech for the sake of the audience.

Hell, while I'm here, I should also mention the scene where they are in the restaurant and someone brings or chucks a grenade in there. After the grenade blows a duo of kung-fu kicking and knife wielding chicks bust into the room screaming ready for a round of fisticuffs while the group of heavily armed terrorists kindly await just outside the restaurant, where they obviously were in the previous scene(s), and enter the room shooting the second the karate-chopping chicks have been beaten in melee combat. Very kind of them to wait so patiently just outside the restaurant until the RFC* championship belt bout is over.

*Ramen Fighting Championship

There's no doubt about it - if people want to see Iko at his best, definitely stick to the native Indonesian films he's done. The guy is phenomenal, particularly with ultra-brutal (and well-captured) fights scenes like the last one in The Raid 2.

This movie definitely has not done the guy justice but I certainly see a bright future in Hollywood for this guy, in a renaissance of what action films were like when they were actually enthralling.

I didn't mind Wahlberg in The Italian Job where he's just basically just chill and low key and never raises his voice above normal talking levels. He was okay at the beginning of this movie but quickly devolved into an orangutan on acid. I don't blame Wahlberg though - the director obviously thought it was okay so, blame him.

He's always been an over the top actor. His best performances are in Boogie Nights, The Basketball Diaries, and the Departed. I also enjoy him in both Ted films.

Despite Wahlberg's overacting, it was Oscar-worthy next to Ronda Rousey. As another poster said, at least use her fighting skills to make up for her poor acting skills...they couldnt even do that!

I usually like Mark Walberg films - but I turned this one off after twenty minutes or so - the rapid fire smart ass dialogue - the arrogance that came through his persona - the unoriginal plot - I found my attention wandering. Why is it when actors start producing the result is usually awful.

Walberg is Walberg, a known quantity. And action films are action films. That said, I can't blame Walberg for the OTT rubber band snapping. I mean, maybe they are aiming at a low IQ audience, but it was so overt it was distracting. I, like most of you, noticed the habit before they even back-flashed/defined it, so I thought, 'OK, got it, now they'll let it go' only to have them quadruple down on it! (Oh...he's *thinking again!*). Also, the other "look how smart this guy is game was the puzzles...but when I saw the scene I paused and went back because something didn't seem right. And unless I'm wrong (which is totally possible), every white puzzle piece was exactly the same and simply rotated 90 degrees! In other words, the simplest puzzle you could solve. These silly things show that Walberg is not to blame.