> Shooter : Review

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Elias Koteas, Kate Mara, Rhona Mitra, Ned Beatty, Rade Serbedzija
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay: Jonathan Lemkin, based on Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter
Cinematography: Peter Menzies Jr.
Music: Mank Mancina


This is the latest entry in the dumb-but-fun action genre.
In Shooter, Mark Wahlberg plays Bobby Lee Swagger an expert sniper who gets framed in a political assassination that involves all levels of nefarious government bad guys. Swagger's partner was killed behind enemy lines, and Bobby Lee was left for dead by those evil *******s up on Capitol Hill. With new political scandals coming out daily and support for the war declining minute-by-minute, the producers of Shooter have to love the timing of their anti-Washington action flick. Years later, Bobby Lee is bunkered up in the hills with a dog and an arsenal of guns when the government comes looking for him, asking for help with stopping an assassination attempt on the President. Before you can say "one-armed man," Bobby Lee is set up and on the run, trying to catch the men who framed him with the help of a gorgeous woman (Kate Mara) and a rookie FBI agent who knows the truth (Michael Peña)..
Shooter does what any good thriller should accomplish - it thrills. It's fast-paced, energetic, and doesn't follow a path that seems pre-ordained from the beginning.
Shooter really isn't overtly political. (For example, we don't know whether the President is a Democrat or Republican, and it doesn't matter.) It gets in its jabs, but this is primarily the struggle of one man against the system, and that's a battle everyone can relate to. The movie taps into something visceral in each of us and keeps us wondering what Swagger will do next and how he will escape from each successive trap. Involvement is key to any thriller's success and Shooter delivers it. Even in a climate where the pervasive influence of 24 can be argued to have caused "thriller fatigue," Shooter is worth the price of admission.

Definately a must watch for all action fans. And oh btw there are many headshots in there, so those learning the tricks of the trade while playing computer games might wanna chk out how the real guys do it in reel life