Shooter (2007) October 14, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Antoine Fuqua
Mark Wahlberg further plays up to his tough guy image in this tale of a trained sniper being double-crossed by a group of rogue government agents and his subsequent vendetta. Plus lets face it, these are the characters Wahlberg is best suited for. Despite recent forays into other areas such as David O’Russell’s I Heart Huckabees, or even his involvement as executive producer on Entourage, it’s the hard nosed Bobby Mercer from Four Brothers [review], the ring-leading Charlie Croker in the Italian Job remake, or his part as Sgt. Dignam in The Departed [review] (earning him a surprise Oscar nod), which will always be regarded as ‘Marky’ Mark’s most typical roles.
Here he plays Bob Lee Swagger, an ex-military sniper who was left behind during a secret mission in Ethiopia years earlier. Now, living in the Rockies, Swagger is surprised by the arrival of a US colonel who tasks him with an important consulting role. The government has discovered that an ultra long-range hit is being planned on the President, and they need Swagger’s expert sniping experience to work out how it might be done. He cooperates, determining how the shot could be taken, but despite his assistance the hit still takes place – and it quickly becomes apparent that not all is as it seems. Suddenly, Swagger finds himself the prime suspect in a high-profile assassination attempt, and with both loyal and rogue FBI agents after him, he is forced to resurrect his army training to take a stand and prove his innocence.
Shooter is slightly different from the standard action thriller in that it seems to cover its small failings in the believability department with a weight of intelligence surrounding the plot. That’s not to say that it’s a particularly smart movie, it is after all an action-centric flick for the most part, but there is the odd moment regarding the sanctimonious nature of government cover-ups and how people in power will abuse that responsibility with ill-advised actions, that all rings slightly truer than normal.
Mark Wahlberg holds his own as Bob Lee Swagger, although it’s not a part that allows for much emotional range. He is well supported by Michael Peña however, in a role that sees him evolve from unconfident FBI agent, to lone investigator, to Swaggers aide. Kate Mara has little to do except look sad and later, rather predictably, become a source of leverage for the disloyal FBI agents, while Danny Glover is a bit of a weak link playing the unscrupulous Colonel Johnson rather flatly.
The script serves to adequately tell the story, but it is greatly aided by Antoine Fuqua’s glossy visual aesthetic that practically glistens from its cleanliness, and helps you to forget that it takes almost an hour to cover the plot points given by the trailer. Gone is the realistic, gritty feel of Fuqua’s earlier Training Day, in what may be his most ‘Hollywood’ piece yet (notably though, I’ve yet to see King Arthur) – not that Shooter really suffers from any of this, since it’s a film that works very well under the typical Hollywood action frame. It’s more the fact that with such ‘popcorn flick’ camera work, you become more inclined to let the other elements of the movie drift by, which isn’t entirely necessary on this occasion.
There’s certainly plenty to sit back and enjoy throughout the movie, although don’t take that as a cue to completely switch off. Instead, just put your brain on standby. There’s an undeniable political message to the narrative (even if it’s ‘trust no-one’) and the ending almost makes a really brave attempt to subvert the path of normal movie justice, and show things a little more realistically. Unfortunately though, the last five minutes completely quash any hopes of an intelligent conclusion by doing exactly what you thought would happen from the second the plot reveals itself. Disappointing, but not a complete turn-off for this otherwise entertaining action flick.
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