"I just want to get to know you," says the Iraqi sniper who has recently shattered the knee of U.S. Army Ranger Sgt. Alan Isaac in Doug Liman's "The Wall." The sniper is a legend among American soldiers, known as Juba or simply The Ghost, and, indeed, he is now an unseen voice hissing into Isaac's earpiece. "The war is over," he says. "So why are you still here?"
That's the question that hangs over "The Wall," and although Isaac has his own answer, the film doesn't help us come to any larger conclusions. This small-scale, tightly wound, three-man thriller is an Iraq War movie that doesn't try to "say something" about the war. Its goal is to get your pulse pounding and keep your knuckles white, which Liman ("The Bourne Identity") always does well. Still, there's something about "The Wall" that rings hollow.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Isaac, who is stationed with Staff Sgt. Shane Matthews (John Cena) on a hill above a construction site. Through his scope, Isaac scans a chilling panorama of oil-pipe workers who have been killed by incredibly accurate head shots. After 20 hours of watching, with no sign of movement, Matthews stands up and strolls down for a look.
Bad move. It turns out Juba (the voice of English actor Laith Nakli) has the patience of a saint. In a chaotic and harrowing sequence, Matthews goes down and Isaac winds up hiding behind a crumbling brick wall that offers scant protection. What follows is a game of psychological cat-and-mouse between Isaac and the well-hidden Juba, who seems to represent America's nightmare of an Iraqi warrior: Educated here, fluent in English, well read and thirsting for our blood.
This conception of Juba has its intended effect: There's something horrifying about a guy who could easily become "one of us" but chooses instead to become our enemy. At the same time, screenwriter Dwain Worrell overdoes the character as a sneering sadist who likes to toy with his victims. Taylor-Johnson provides balance as a no-nonsense grunt who lacks book smarts but knows his survival training.
"The Wall" ends in an unexpected way that raises even more questions about why this movie is set in Iraq. It's providing entertainment, basically, which for some viewers might be enough.
