Fresh off of his Academy Award-nominated role as Dignam in The Departed, Mark Wahlberg is back in the new action thriller Shooter. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and adapted from a novel by Stephen Hunter, Shooter revolves around an expert ex-USMC sniper, Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg), who lost his best friend during a peacekeeping mission three years prior. Now living in seclusion with his dog as his only company, Swagger is visited by Col. Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover, Dreamgirls), who attempts to re-recruit him. There is an assassination attempt on the president, and Swagger’s help is needed so that the government can figure out a way to stop the threat. Against his better judgment, Swagger’s patriotism gets the best of him and he agrees to help out. When the day of the supposed assassination comes, something has to go wrong and, of course, it does. The president is missed altogether but Swagger, who is on the scene, is shot at and framed as a killer.
From this point on, Swagger is on the run, trying desperately to exact his revenge on all the people who framed him while clearing his own name. He hides out and gets medical attention from his dead friend’s smokin’ fianc?e, Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara, We Are Marshall), and joins forces with a young FBI agent, Nick Memphis (Michael Pe?a, World Trade Center). Using his expert sniper skills and military training, Swagger goes cross country, taking out a slew of (mostly corrupt) government forces. After gathering some information-and plenty more killing-Swagger is able to take on Johnson and his cohort, corrupt senator Charles F. Meachum (Ned Beatty, Deliverence), leading to an explosive-quite literally-finale.
Shooter’s biggest fault is its storyline. Though the story initially seems promising, it spirals downward into confusion as the movie moves forward. After the movie is over, many viewers may be left scratching their heads as to what just happened. Some of the characters are ridiculous, especially the over-the-top evil Sen. Meachum. The story also has plenty of political statements, which is probably not something most action fans are looking for. In all honesty, the only real reason for the story is to give Swagger a legitimate reason to kill more people.
The action in the movie is intense and often exciting, but becomes a little repetitive toward the end. The sequences deliver what is promised but lack originality, and there are probably one too many explosions when all is said and done. The movie sounds great, however, and is shot very well for an action flick. Most of the performances aren’t notable, but Wahlberg does well with what he is given. Glover’s performance is the most disappointing. His character speaks with an unexplained lisp, is hard to understand and even harder to listen to.
Overall, Shooter ends up being another by-the-book action film, delivering all that one would expect from such a film. The film is much better than the average action movie starring Stallone, Seagal or Van Damme, but it doesn’t quite reach the quality of the Bourne films that it is probably trying to emulate.
