I have seen quite some actions movies in the past that I forgot almost immediately, and then, I watched Shooter, even though it wasn't 100% perfect, I still remember quite some things due to the anger behind the movie. And I can also remember how straightforward it was and was about a higher trained and experienced sniper was used by the set of the same people once trusted. He got framed something he didn't do and decided to fight his way through a system that has already presumed him guilty.
The whole movie was directed by Antoine Fuqua and the whole movies was derived from Stephen Hunter's novelPoint of Impact. And I like how the movie wasn't a complicated one because it directly gave me someone to root for, hate and enough betrayal to turn some scenes more personal for me.
Bob Lee Swagger was an very interesting man for me in this whole movie because he wasn't the loud type, invincible type or someone who just goes about killing people. He's a professional at his job, and he has already experienced a lot and saw what happened when powerful people sends soldiers to a zone and when things got hitted up, they abandon them. And I saw the reason why Bob decided to disappear from the military life after he and and friend were left behind during a mission In Ethiopia and his friend was killed. After three years, where he was staying, one of the Colonel, Issac Johnson approached him to convince him to come back to the game and stop the presidential assassination. Bob accepted, he went to the location and studied everything and also did everything possible that anyone with his experience would do. But I saw along the movie that the whole problem was far more above him stopping the whole assassination. But he was being framed to take the blame for the assassination.
And at that very moment, this movie became more interesting because of the betrayal. He successfully stopped the assassination,but an Ethiopia archbishop was assainsted which made Bob become the most wanted man in the country. But his escape gave the movie a very deep tension because at this point, he was not just running again. He was studying all the people who betrayed him, watching them closely and was also using all his experience to stay alive.
With Memphis, this movie became more interesting because he's a very young FBI agent who didn't corporate with the system but rather, he was also finding the truth about the assassination and wasn't following what he was told blindly. However, he became Bob sidekick in the system and they both used the investigation skill and experience skill they both have to work together to understand the kind of people they are dealing with.
One thing I like about this movie like I earlier was that it was straightforward because if how everything was linking together. Even though it was a full action movie, it still has a bit of romance and that is where Sarah Fenn comes in. She was connected to Donnie, Bob's friend who died in Ethiopia. And she was also part the few he can trust
Sarah Fenn also has more importance than the typical romantic character in this kind of film, even though the movie doesn't always use her as well as it could. She is connected to Donnie, the man Swagger lost in Ethiopia, and becomes one of the few people he can trust. And then, there was another sniper from Serbia whose past together with Bob added more layer to the whole conspiracy. And what he said about Senator Meachumb and Johnson made me see the movie from a simple frame into something much more pathetic because whole assassination was connected to massacre in Ethiopia that some powerful people want it to stay buried. And I like the revelation Mr Rate shared with Bob and Memphis because that smaller piece and contribution make the conspiracy feels bigger than just one villain.
Colonel Johnson, the character I successfully enjoyed hating because he's always ready to play dirty works and is connecting with authorities who are always willing to also do dirty works makes it all frightening and made him physically stronger than Bob. And I think Koteas did a very brilliant job by telling Bob to be careful of him because in this movie, a lot of people are working in a system. Some are for the good, while some are bad and always trying to cover up their messages by hanging it around innocent people neck.
But one problem I saw about this movie was that this villains in it were specifically too obvious. Because I saw how the powerful were openly happy about the evil they did instead of allowing their actions to demonstrate their evil acts.
At some point, I had to stop taking the realism in this movie seriously because the biggest weakness I watched is tgar they occasionally become too much of the things it talking against. Because how can Bob's personal war alone solve the illegal military operations, corruption and even the bad and corrupt powerful people? That felt like too much exaggeration for me. I saw some things which were not necessarily needed in some of the scenes like the pretence amongst the military to make Bob useful again just to frame him after. But still, those things didn't make them movie less interesting for me...
What I ultimately enjoyed about this movie was how simple and straightforw it was. All the characters did their jobs well especially Mark Wahlberg who acted as Bob Lee Swagger because he was protecting himself from the people and system that were meant to protect him. And even though the movie has its own flaws, but I'll still recommend it because it was so tense, surprisingly and entertaining to watch.
imdb images
Other images are screenshots from my movie player
Rating: 85/100
