Starring Mark Wahlberg, Danny Glover, Michael Pena, Elias Koteas, Rhona Mitra, Kate Mara, Ned Beatty, Rade Sherbedgia, Lane Garrison
Written By: Jonathan Lemkin
Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
Studio: Paramount
Buy on Amazon.com link

When I saw the trailer for Shooter, I knew I would like this movie. I knew it was gonna be a fun, action-packed movie and it’s certainly that. It’s not the greatest film in the world but it does what it’s set out to do, and that’s to entertain.

Shooter is about an ex-marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg). Swagger gets approached by a bunch of government agents at his wilderness home and they want him to help with a potential threat. The president is a target and might be assassinated so Swagger agrees to out-fox the assassin. But Swagger is double crossed and is blamed for the assassination attempt. Shocker! Bob Lee escapes the agents who tried to frame and kill him, and then he goes on the run with every Government Agency looking for him. He bumps into a FBI agent who is working the president’s event and these two men become unlikely alleys later on. But in the meantime, Swagger is on the run and has no one to turn to except his dead marine buddy’s girlfriend. Oh sure, go after the girl after your buddy is dead..I see how Swagger roles. Bob lee doesn’t do what other convicted criminals try to do like run or try to go to another country, he tries to get down to the bottom of things. He starts to find out all the juicy details and plans to go head on with the people that framed him.

I liked Shooter even though there was a lot of problems with the movie. As I was watching the movie, I just kept laughing out how ridiculous some of the action was. Like for instance, Swagger can shoot at helicopters with one bullet and crash them. Hmm maybe a few bullets but one, come on, no one is THAT good! And there was some other action scenes that were funny to me but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. I’m not sure why directors still like to use that clich slow-motion stuff in movies. Fugua uses it a few times, especially at the end when Swagger finally gets his revenge in the movie. Is he really that much more of a badass if the scene is slowed-down? Besides some of the plot and action, I did enjoy the movie. You just have to put your brain on sleep mode and watch the film that way. I did like the chick in the movie, she was nice to look at it but her accent was annoying. Not sure if that was a real accent or what accent it was but it was driving me crazy. I thought Mark Wahlberg was good, I haven’t had any complaints with his acting lately or the film roles he has chosen in recent memory. It was kind of interesting to see Danny Glover be a bad guy in a film. I thought there might be some twist in the movie and he ends up being good, but nope, he’s a king-time douchebag in the film. Even Ned Betty was a bad guy, he hasn’t been bad in a film in awhile I believe. If there is one big complaint I had, I think it has to be the ending. It just didn’t seem believable at all. Once you see the movie, you’ll probably agree with me. I also thought the plot could have been explained a little bit better as well.

If you saw the movie in the theaters and liked Shooter, be sure to get the DVD. There’s a few decent featurettes and audio commentary with director Antoine Fugua. If you like political action-thrillers, than you’ll enjoy Shooter. I thought the movie was decent but I think in the end, it could have been better.

Features:
7 Deleted Scenes
Survival of the Fittest: Making of Shooter
Commentary by Antoine Fugua
Featurette: Independence Hall

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color

Subtitles:
English

Favorite Scenes: I liked when Wahlberg and Pena’s characters joined together, enjoyed the mindless action. Kate Mara was nice to look at in the bra scenes :)
Rating: R
Running Time: 125 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: