Review of SHOOTER

May 8, 2007

This is the rare movie still left in the malls after Spider-man 3 opened last week.

I had no idea what this film was about before I entered. It stars Marc Wahlberg playing a Marines sharpshooter veteran increduously named Bob Lee Swagger. He was abandoned in the Ethiopia warzone by his superiors, so when he made his way back in the States, he becomes a loner. Sounds familiar??? Yes! This film could be the rehash of Rambo or any Chuck Norris movie of the 80s! There was definitely an 80s feel to it in the first few scenes.

In this film, Swagger was recruited to help analyze and prevent an assasination attempt on the US President. However, it turns out he would be framed for the crime. Of course, he escapes this tight set-up and, despite two gunshot wounds, was able to tackle an FBI agent, steal his car, drive the car into the river, escape along the shore, hotwire an abandoned car and make his way from Philadelphia to Kentucky! Of course this is just the start of a series of superhuman artillery exploits in the forests, in the fields, in the snow!

It is very exciting for an action film. Big explosions everywhere. Characters are either one of two: 1. Too superhuman, as was Swagger, but also Sarah (Kate Mara) as the widow of Swagger's best friend, who was amazingly able to do bullet extraction surgery in her bedroom! Or 2. Too caricaturish, as were the over-the-top evil characters of Danny Glover, Elias Koteas and Ned Beatty. Of course, we don't expect Wahlberg (or anyone else for that matter) to earn his next Oscar nomination from this film.

Finally, we only watch these kinds of films for the adrenaline rush, and for that, "Shooter" still gets three stars.