Sniper Reviews: The Wall, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena
By B. James Johncox
The Wall, released in 2017, is a military psychological thriller that follows Sergeant Allen “Ize” Isaac, (Taylor-Johnson) and Staff Sergeant Shane Matthews (Cena,) a two-man U.S. Army sniper team operating in Iraq in 2007. It chronicles the events that take place during an engagement during which the sniper team gets pinned down by “Juba,” the infamous Islamic sniper who terrorized American troops throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom. Essentially, it is the Collin Farrel psychological thriller Phonebooth, but in the middle of the desert in Iraq.
First things first, as I pointed out in my last “Sniper Review” of the film Sniper, I am not a film critic. Although I did obtain a college education subsequent to my military career, it was not in film or acting or any of that ilk. It was in military history… This is not a critique of storytelling. Thus, I will not foist my opinion of what constitutes a great movie onto others… Afterall, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. However, I will, in this case, make mention of one cinephile related observation. Aaron Tayor-Johnson is British… very, very British… His natural accent could be considered Cockney as he often utilizes glottal stops when pronouncing the letter “T” and most “H” sounds are dropped completely. A campy example of the Cockney accent might sound like “Everyfin olrigh, gub’nah?” His employ of the American southern rhotic drawl throughout this film is absolutely incredible. Okay, enough of that.
In any event, I watch these sniper-centric films and try to pay extremely close attention to details that might otherwise be missed. I then offer my opinion as to how close the movie came to reality. With that said, and without further ado… let’s dissect The Wall.
Hang in there with me, there is a lot to unpack in this one.
The film opens with Ize and Matthews ghillied up and observing a pipe-line construction site in the Iraqi desert. The bodies of contractors, both construction and security personnel, litter the ground throughout the site. Ssgt. Matthews and Sgt. Isaac are trying to determine whether the carnage was a “hit and run” style ambush or the work of an extremely deadly sniper. As far as this scenario is concerned, the only accuracy is the banter that takes place between the two snipers and the equipment they are carrying. Let’s cover the successes first.
When deployed… anywhere… everything sucks. The climate sucks, the food sucks, the lack of creature comforts sucks, and… should it be the case… getting shot at sucks the most. There just isn’t much that can be done about any of that, thus troops coined the phrase “embrace the suck.” What does that mean? Essentially, it means that one has to accept the reality of the circumstances and make the best of them. This, in most cases, manifests as ribbing any and every human being within your immediate vicinity. Even officers are not immune, provided whatever insult you hurl at them is followed by the word “sir.” The only other option is to complain, which is useless… as everyone in your area of operation is also subject to the same conditions that are creating a seemingly custom-tailored hell.
Furthermore, everyone knows that the title of “baddest ass” is possessed by he or she who can demonstrate, or at least pretend, that “the suck” effects them the least. The best way to achieve that is to ruthlessly insult everyone else and replace the words “friend” and “buddy” with “bitch” and “sissy,” among others that I won’t mention here. Ize and Matthews demonstrate this relationship flawlessly. Had I met them in theater, there is nothing about their interactions with one another that would have made me believe that they were anything other than a tight-knit sniper/spotter pair.
Next is the equipment. Ssgt. Matthews is equipped with the vaunted M-24 S.W.S. while Ize is armed with a spotting scope and M-4. Let’s look at Matthew’s rifle for a moment. The M-24 Sniper Weapon System is a Remington 700 long action chambered in 7.62 x 51 mm (.308 Winchester.) The long action means that, with a barrel change, the rifle could also fire a .300 Winchester Magnum. This is a crucial detail as the M-24 could never be confused for a standard, “off-the-shelf” deer rifle or one of the various incarnations of the U.S. Marine Corps’ M40, a detail that many sniper movies and television shows overlook. The combination of the correct rifle with the correct service adds authenticity.
Why does it matter? Most people wouldn’t know the difference…
Perhaps. But, based on the cover picture of this film, its audience is going to be comprised of those who do know the difference. The Army doesn’t use M40s and Marines don’t use M24s. While they are both Remington 700s, there are some stark differences between the M40 and the M24. First, the M-24’s barrel features a front sight post… no other bolt-action sniper rifle possesses that particular front sight. Second, the M-24 features an H-S Precision polymer stock that has an adjustable length of pull that gives it its nostalgic profile. The rifle carried by Matthews in the film is the real deal, or at the very least, it is the most accurate prop sniper rifle on the planet.
Ize’s gear is comprised of, what appears at first glance to be, a Leupold Mark 4 spotting scope and an M-4 with an Aimpoint optic complete with a killflash A.R.D. (a honeycomb looking thing that goes in front of the objective lens to eliminate light glinting off of the lens.) Furthermore, each soldier’s kit and uniforms are consistent with U.S. Army issue of that particular time frame… including the Army’s awful digital Universal Camouflage Pattern (U.C.P.) Other small details that were nailed were the Combat Application Tourniquets and the M.I.C.H. helmets that, on John Cena’s head, resembled the stahlhelm developed by Germany to replace the pickelhaube in World War I. All-in-all, the gear is good. Unfortunately, that is where the good stuff stops.
Let’s talk tactics.
I am capable of suspending my reality in order to enjoy a movie. For instance, I am 99.99% confident that elves, dwarves, hobbits, and orcs do not actually exist (don’t ask about that remaining 0.01%,) but I still love Tolkien and ALL of the Lord of the Rings films (yes… even The Hobbit trilogy… calm down nerds, I know it was a money grab.) Nevertheless, the juice has to be worth the squeeze.
In The Wall we are led to believe that a two-man sniper team has been sent to investigate the aftermath of a construction site massacre and have been observing the scene for over 20 hours. First of all, the Army doesn’t send less than six men to take a nap, let alone an objective. Maybe back in the days of the Vietnam War, but definitely not in 2007.
Nevertheless, the sniper team decides that one of the pair should go down to the site and, for lack of a better phrase… poke it with a stick. Look, I, myself, have had a “butter bar” lieutenant order me to poke something with a stick. In my situation, the particular something was a mass of garbage on the side of a highway that was a suspected improvised explosive device (I.E.D.) I very delicately, so as not to damage his fragile ego, explained to him why that was a terrible idea. We then cordoned off a large circumference of the highway and pointed rifles at the garbage pile until the E.O.D. guys arrived some three hours later. Those guys then poked it with their expensive robot stick. It did not explode. Fortunately, it was just a pile of garbage.
Why did we point rifles at it? No idea… seemed like the thing to do.
So, what would have really happened at our construction site massacre? There are a number of plays that could be called in that situation, none of which involve two dudes and a bolt action rifle. Most likely, a quick reaction force (Q.R.F.) would have been called and the site would have been flooded with American troops, American vehicles, and good ole’ fashioned American air superiority. Afterall, how many good guy guns do you want pointed at the bad guys? The answer to that question is always “one more.”
The film addresses all of those other potential responses with a single clever device. Whereas some stories contain a Deus Ex Machina, this particular situation has a Diabolus Ex Machina. The bad guy, “Juba” (we will address Juba shortly) had a seemingly magic radio that could easily find, decrypt, and utilize any American military radio frequency in the history of ever.
You are correct… that is actually not very clever at all, I was being glib.
Thus, our heroes could not have called for support even if they had chosen to do so at the beginning of the film… which is exactly what would have happened in reality. In which case, the movie would have… gone a different direction.
Cards on the table, I’m not an authority on radios or radio frequencies. I was assigned to be an R.T.O. (Radio Telephone Operator) once… for about two hours. In any event, radio equipment is complicated, and frequencies are encrypted and changed all the time. Whenever the regular R.T.O. guy gave me a radio, it was ready to go. I pushed the “talk” button on my radio, and it worked. There was never a time, in my experience, that it didn’t work, nor was it ever “hijacked” or “hacked.” I don’t know if that is credit to our R.T.O. troops or attributed to the discrepancy in technology, but I imagine it’s a lot of both.
Whatever… it’s the only way this film works so it is what it is… embrace the suck.
Let’s push this along and move on to our antagonist… Juba. Juba, the legendary Iraqi sniper credited with a slew of American casualties actually did exist. Well, the idea of Juba existed. As it turns out, there were a number of Jubas in Iraq. The various Islamic extremist groups pushed a narrative that one “heroic” Sunni sniper was responsible for pretty much every sniper attack on American/coalition forces in theater.
Hey, I get it… the Russians did it with Vasily Zaitsef in World War II and we did the same with Chris Kyle (God rest his soul.) All nations love heroes. The exception is that Zaitsef and Kyle were both real individuals.
Anyway, in the film, Juba happens to be the most remarkable sniper to have ever held a rifle. He shoots and wounds Matthews while he is poking around the site, causing Ize to run down in an effort to save him. Juba then purposely shoots Ize in the right knee, radio antenna, and water bottle… through a 10-mph wind (15 – 20 mph gusting) all while Ize is running zig zags. Furthermore, the four successful shots are taken from, based on Ize’s Crack/Thump determination, some 1,500 meters away.
For some perspective, that is 109 meters short of one mile. Let’s, for a moment, pretend that a 1,500-meter shot on a moving target… precisely in one joint of one limb… through significant wind… on purpose… is within the realm of possibility. We can even throw the water bottle shot in there. But a radio antenna? Come on. Furthermore, Juba does this with a simple duplex reticle scope.
In any event, Ize makes it to cover behind a dilapidated wall where Juba has him pinned down. It is while Ize is pinned behind the wall that we learn Juba did the exact same thing from the exact same distance to the security and construction contractors, shooting all but one of them in the head, some hours before Ize and Matthews got there.
I’m not going to spend much time addressing all of this, but I have trouble seeing a radio antenna through a scope at 200 meters, never mind 1,500. Technically, it’s not impossible. But I think I can say with some authority that, in reality, the odds are better that I could shoot a BB out of the air with another BB while getting struck by lightning as I won the Mega Millions lottery.
There are plenty more moments in The Wall that could be picked apart, John Cena firing a seemingly semi-automatic bolt action rifle being one… but I think the point has been made. This particular film is designed to be more psychological in nature and the snipers are just the vehicle by which this is accomplished. It may or may not be your cup of tea, that is up to you. However, if you are looking for a film that will scratch that sniper itch… you should look elsewhere.
James Johncox brings an unparalleled perspective to the history of American snipers, drawing from two decades of service as a former sniper and current instructor. His career spans the United States Army and law enforcement, offering him a unique vantage point shaped by real-world experience and a deep commitment to his craft. Driven by a passion for truth, James pursued a degree in Military History while working full-time, where he encountered a pervasive liberal bias even within his field of study. Determined to set the record straight, he authored “Sniper’s Discretion”, combining rigorous academic research with firsthand insights to reveal the untold story of American snipers. James’s work is a compelling and unflinching account of the challenges faced by these elite marksmen, both on the battlefield and beyond.