Taglines: You can’t run. You can’t hide. You can only fight.
During the Iraq War, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews (John Cena) is a sniper who is sent to investigate a pipeline construction site in the desert of the country, with his spotter, Sergeant Allen Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
The pair patiently wait 22 hours on overwatch before determining that the site is clear. Matthews proceeds to investigate the site, but is shot by an Iraqi sniper. Isaac tries to rescue the dying Matthews, but he is also wounded in the right knee and has his radio damaged and his water bottle destroyed in the process.
Alone, Isaac takes cover behind an unsteady wall and tends to his wounds. The sniper has a radio tuned into the American channel, and uses it to communicate with Isaac under the pretense of being a high ranking allied soldier at another site. The deception allows the sniper to get other useful information from Isaac. Throughout their various one-sided attempts at conversation, we learn that the sniper does not claim to the mythical Juba mentioned earlier in the film, a nom de guerre for various Al Qaeda snipers notorious for filming their attacks on American soldiers.
Isaac’s attempts to call headquarters for help are stymied by the loss of his radio antennae. He attempts to repair this item with one from a dead contractor’s radio, only to discern that the sniper had used the earlier response team as a ruse to call for help and lure another response force into his jaws.
Matthews regains consciousness and subtly gets Isaac’s attention that he’s still alive. Matthews slowly crawls towards his rifle in the midst of the dusty wind along with Isaac distracting Juba with small talk. Matthews believes that the sniper is hiding at the top of a rubble nearby and fires in that direction. The dusty wind settles quickly. The sniper sees Matthews and fires, injuring Matthews in the left shoulder as he crawled towards the wall, but a second shot kills him.
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. It is produced by Amazon Studios, and was released on May 12, 2017 by Roadside Attractions. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $123 million against a $10 million budget.
The Wall (2017)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Laith Nakli
Screenplay by: Dwain Worrell
Production Design by: Jeff Mann
Cinematography by: Roman Vasyanov
Film Editing by: Julia Bloch
Costume Design by: Cindy Evans
Set Decoration by: Kelly Berry
Art Direction by: Cassidy Shipley
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout and some war violence.
Distributed by: Roadside Attractions
Release Date: May 12, 2017
