The Wall

While many war movies generate thrills from large-scale battles and rousing speeches, The Wall spotlights military courage and sacrifice on a more intimate scale.

This moderately suspenseful showdown on the front lines in Iraq features committed performances even as it struggles to generate enough narrative momentum to justify its feature length.

Specifically, it’s set in 2007 and follows a remote surveillance mission involving a pair of Army Rangers — the brash Sgt. Matthews (John Cena) and the more timid Sgt. Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). After Matthews leaves his camouflaged cover, he’s badly wounded by an Iraqi sniper.

So while Matthews languishes on the sand, Isaac tries to avoid the same fate by hiding behind a crumbling stone wall, trying to call for help, and attempting to locate the whereabouts of the shooter, who adds some psychological distress after intercepting Isaac’s radio communication.

Despair and desperation sets in as the realistic chances of a rescue dwindle. Disillusionment replaces hope, and Isaac’s focus turns from fulfilling his duties to just making it out alive.

Although the concept is ambitious and the visual approach captures a gritty authenticity — with many point-of-view shots through rifle scopes and much of the dialogue relayed via radios — the film is repetitive by nature and gradually becomes tedious rather than tense.

This small-scale project for director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) effectively captures the monotony and isolation that accompanies these types of missions, as well as the camaraderie and playful banter that sometimes belies the constant sense of inherent danger.

Obviously, the result features considerably more talk than action, with the occasional blast of gunfire breaking the relative silence. Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals) rises to the challenge of acting essentially by himself for most of this survival tale, while Cena demonstrates range during his more abbreviated appearance.

The character-driven screenplay generally lacks broader context into the conflict and the politics surrounding it, although there is a half-hearted antiwar message as a method of both sides finding common ground.

The Wall provides a cynical yet clear-headed scrutiny about the ongoing involvement of American troops on the ground in the Middle East, saluting those who remained even after the government declared that the war was won. Yet amid too many calculations and contrivances, that message becomes lost in the desert.

Rated R, 89 minutes.