Barely A Review: SHOOTER

If you like seeing people get shot in the head from long distances then have I got the movie for you. It's the new Mark Wahlberg action flick SHOOTER. Wahlberg stars as Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine sniper called into service for his country one last time. That dedication to his country ends up with Swagger being framed for an attempt on the President's life.

This movie is like a three round heavyweight fight. The first round is a nice showing in which we see a great opening action sequence and a decent set up depicting Wahlberg going on the run from the authorties. In the second round the film takes a dive. A lot of the focus goes to Michael Pena as a rookie FBI agent who uncovers the conspiracy and realizes that Wahlberg is not the assassin everyone assumes him to be. The problem with this is that the audience knows Wahlberg is innocent so it gets dull watching another character slowly figure that out.

In the third round the film gets off the canvas with a vengeance. It's around this time that Wahlberg, with help from Pena, starts dropping bodies left and right. A shootout at a farmhouse is especially well executed by director Antione Fuqua. Danny Glover fails to provide much in the way of menace but his lead henchman, played by Elias Koteas, manages to be just the type of sleazy asshole you want in a movie like this.

By split decision, SHOOTER wins.