| Film Review | A.C. Hall |
Shooter
Shooter is an intense action movie and is rated R for strong
graphic violence and some language. It stars Mark Wahlberg,
Danny Glover, Michael Pena and Kate Mara.
Shooter is the story of Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg), an ex
soldier who is one of the best snipers in the world. After a
mission goes wrong and Swagger is left alone in dangerous
territory he leaves the military and lives in exile in the
woods. He’s kept company only by his dog and a newfound
distrust of the American government. Three years pass before
a Colonel (Glover) seeks out Swagger and asks for his help.
The government has learned about a planned sniper attempt on
the president’s life, but they have no idea where or when
it’s going to happen. Reluctant at first, ultimately Bob
Lee’s sense of patriotism and duty compel him to help. He
scouts locations that the president will soon be visiting
and comes to discover the city and event at which he thinks
the attempt will happen. Swagger and the Colonel set up and
as the president arrives they prepare to take down the
sniper. However, Swagger finds himself set up as the Colonel
and others turn on him and try to kill him, establishing him
as the prime suspect in the attempt on the president’s life.
Swagger happens across an aloof young FBI agent (Pena) as he
flees and tells him about the conspiracy. As Swagger
desperately tries to evade the government conspirators who
will stop at nothing to silence him, the young FBI agent
begins to realize that Swagger may be telling the truth. But
with the entire country and a pile of evidence against him
Swagger will have to do everything he can to clear his name
and punish those who have set him up.
One thing that surprised me was the incredible level of
brutality in this movie. Perhaps I should’ve expected it, as
it’s directed by the man who directed Training Day, but the
trailers didn’t lead you to believe it would be as intensely
violent as it is. This isn’t just an action movie, this is a
murder movie. Blood flies, body parts get blown off and I
lost count of the number of people who get shot in the head
with high powered rifles. Add in a few disturbing scenes of
torture and you’ve got a truly hard hitting film that isn’t
for the weak stomached.
The acting was a definite sore spot here. While the action
sequences were thrilling and exciting and the story of the
conspiracy was engrossing, the two big name actors in this
movie were absolutely flat. Danny Glover and Mark Wahlberg
both seemed to give little to no effort when it came to
delivering great performances. Many times Glover, and even
Wahlberg to a lesser degree, mumbled lines so badly that
they were nearly impossible to decipher. While this may seem
like a small gripe, when you’re trying to follow a fairly
intricate plot it definitely becomes noticeable when the
actors are speaking unintelligibly. The one outstanding
performance in the film came from Michael Pena, whose
character was a joy to watch.
While the action in the film was top notch, there are
numerous political aspects to the story that are handled in
a heavy handed, over the top fashion. There are multiple
occasions of characters standing for long periods of time,
making drawn out speeches about the corrupt American
government and the terrible people who operate it. There’s
also a rather disturbing political message to the story that
seems to encourage violence against any government officials
or agencies that we may have issues with. This was all
handled in a very serious, disturbing manner that made me
and many others who I spoke to afterwards uncomfortable.
If you’re in the mood for an action movie and you’re okay
with some violent scenes and a lot of heavy handed political
messages Shooter is a movie you might want to check out.
Ultimately it’s probably a movie that would work best as a
weekend rental though. The sniper scenes within the film are
thrilling and although Wahlberg does little to seem like a
great actor, he does confirm that he’s a great action star.
It’s not enough to save this movie that excelled in the
action but failed in a lot of other ways.
I give Shooter 2 out of 5 stars.
