Shooter (2007)

Shooter

Great movie. Good action and great plot. Not quite used to seeing Danny Glover play the bad guy, but he did and excellent job. Even the women I know that have seen this say it is a great thriller and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Dale Morse
Fort Worth, Texas July 27, 2008

Look Down Range Fire at Dog Targets

Mark Wahlberg (3:10 to Yuma) hits the mark as a good guy framed for an assassination after his military retirement as an expert sharpshooter. With a little help from his friends Wahlberg tries to prove his innocence accomplishing only a stalemate. When all else fails vigilante justice is the only option remaining. This movie is a mix of action flicks such as "Rambo First Blood," "Bourne Identity" and Charles Bronson's, "Death Wish" series. The CGI is often poorly done so the eye catches it easily. The blu-ray edition leaves much to be desired as background images are often out of focus whereas they should be sharp. Other appearances include Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) and Michael Pena, (World Trade Center), and veteran actor Ned Beatty. Even though there are flaws in quality, "Shooter" will still keep you well entertained. My rating, 3 potato 4. Michael Couch Potato July 23, 2008

Worth watching for the dubious message

Three years after retiring from the army, sniper, Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg), is called back into action by army hero, Col. Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover), to help avert the assassination of the U.S. president. However, when an assassination attempt is made, Swagger is double-crossed and ends up on the run for a crime he didn't commit.

In many ways, "Shooter" reminds me a lot of "Hero". Not with respect to plot, but because both are films that I didn't particularly like, but, nevertheless, consider worth watching for the unusual and rather dubious messages at their cores. The message of "Shooter" seems to be that it's OK to shoot politicians whose political beliefs diverge from your own (either that or "the end justifies the means", one or the other). Considering the fact that this film is a Hollywood film, made in 2007, I was amazed that such a message was allowed, since it seems that, now days, film makers and production companies are more aware than ever of the dangers of including violence-encouraging messages in their films. For that reason, this film fascinated me, and I am glad I saw it.

As a piece of cinema, however, "Shooter" is very lacking. It's not a terrible movie, I did enjoy the action sequences, but in between the action sequences, I found that my attention drifted. Most of the characters in the film are poorly written, in particular, the scenery-chewing villains, who are portrayed as having no redeeming features at all, and the film's heroine, played by Kate Mara, whose only purpose in the film seemed to be to follow instructions given by Swagger. It didn't help matters that Kate Mara is a terrible actress (I have never seen her in anything before this film, so perhaps it was just that she didn't have decent material to work with, but her performance in this film was so bad that, in the future, I will be avoiding her films), and that both Glover and Wahlberg mumble a significant proportion of their lines (this was particularly annoying in the case of Glover - I know he can speak properly, as he does in other films, and yet in this film, it sounded as though he had his jaw wired). The only actor who really stood out for me was Rhona Mitra, whom I was already a fan of, as an FBI agent, but her role is small and her character vanishes about 2/3 of the way through the film. July 17, 2008

Satisfaction

I am completely satisfied with this purchase. I've only had it a month and I've watched it 3 times and lent it to 3 friends. Thank you. July 4, 2008

Mr. Wahlberg, Smile Please

I would have given this movie a 4 star rating if only Mark Walhberg could have smiled just once. The grumpy and pissed-off look was too much to take for the long duration of the film. Sure, Shooter is no teen flick or love story but even one wry smile, at some point in the film could have put the viewer at some ease. In fact Mark has been showing the same face for many movies now and it is high time we saw a change. Two hours was also too long for this movie which I thought wasn't a nice idea. The incredible hardware (rifles) were an admirable part and using them Mark is able to shoot a target from a mile away. The action is good and so is the plot and story that keeps one gripped to the movie till the end. Nice to see Danny Glover after a break though he had a negative role in this movie. Three stars for the action and story. July 1, 2008

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