Shooter

Year: 2007
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Kate Mara, Elias Koteas, Ned Beatty

I had some kind of instinct about this film before I decided to see it. And somehow thanks to certain circumstances, I finally made up my mind to give it a try. I should have known better.

Shooter revolves around Bob Lee Swagger, a marine sniper who retires from active duty after botching a mission in Ethiopia that caused his partner's death. Swagger now lives alone in the countryside, but as fate would have it, he gets called back in. A colonel, Isaac Johnson asks for his help to stop an assassination attempt on the President. Swagger is reluctant but finally agrees.

From this point, perhaps you can predict where this film would go. His employers aren't really patriots, and they waste no time setting Swagger up for an attempt on the President's life. And of course, he manages to flee, amid gunfire and car chases and explosions. Swagger then has to do whatever it takes to expose the men responsible. He only has two people on his side: Sarah Fenn, the wife of his deceased partner, and Nick Memphis, an inexperienced FBI agent who has a keen eye for detail and believes Swagger is innocent.

If any of you have watched the film Most Wanted, this plot is very familiar. In Most Wanted, Keenan Ivory Wayans plays a marine on death row coerced by a mysterious man (played by John Voight) to assassinate someone, only to be framed for the assassination of the First Lady. Wayans then has to hunt down Voight with the help of the only reliable witness, played by Jill Hennessy. I'd like to add that Most Wanted is actually the better film, despite it being a little less flashy. Plus, Wayans has a better sense of humour.

As far as action films go, Shooter offers nothing new in terms of plot and style. The action, from the gunfights to the car chases to the explosions have all been done before, and better elsewhere. Director Antoine Fuqua gave us great films like The Replacement Killers and Tears Of The Sun, but this film pales in comparison to the former two. In Killers, there is believable drama and stylised action. In Tears, we have moral issues and great acting to complement the action. But Shooter is rather dull and unoriginal. The overstretched ending didn't help matters either.

It also doesn't help that Fuqua does not have an A-list cast for his film. Wahlberg may be an Oscar nominee now, but his acting hasn't improved much. Mara is nice to look at as Sarah, but that's it. The bad guys are all stereotypes, from Glover to Koteas and the others not worth mentioning. Pena is the only one who deserves some credit as Nick Memphis, but playing second fiddle to Wahlberg doesn't do him justice.

What is good about Shooter however, is the sniper shots. The impact from a single bullet fired miles away from its target can be felt a lot stronger than all the other action you see on screen. The stuff that Swagger explains about shooting, the stuff to be considered before taking a shot, is interesting education for the viewers. However, what this film needs to do is entertain, and it comes up short on that.

I suggest you rent or buy those other Fuqua films I mentioned, and Most Wanted. It's better than spending 2 hours on this. (2.5/5)