Sniper

Films that spawn long-lasting franchises don’t have to be great or even very good. This is the conclusion you might get after watching Sniper, 1993 action film directed by Luis Llosa.

The protagonist, played by Tom Berenger, is US Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett, experienced sniper with numerous kills. The plot begins when Beckett, currently stationed in Panama, loses his spotter Corporal Doug Papich (played by Aden Young) during mission against rebels hiding in jungle. The US government is nevertheless going to use Beckett for another, very delicate, covert mission – his task is to take out General Miguel Alvarez (played by Frederick Miragliotta), rebel leader who might sabotage next election in Panama. Beckett is also given a new spotter, civilian expert marksman and National Security Council staffer Richard Miller (played by Billy Zane), whose actual task is to supervise mission and act as Beckett’s superior. Beckett isn’t happy with such arrangement, especially when it becomes obvious that Miller lacks proper training and, unlike Beckett, never killed a man. As they enter the jungle and begin approaching their target, tension between two men rise, while at the same time they are being hunted by Desilva (played by Edward Wiley), Panamian sniper who was trained by Beckett before defecting to rebels.

Sniper gives impression of somewhat unusual action film, very different from those that ruled Hollywood in 1980s. This is mostly due to the very nature of sniping – activity that requires patience, concentration and mental skills instead of machistic bravado. On the other hand, script by Michael Frost Breckner and Crash Leyland is very simple and formulaic. With minimum exposition it treats US dirty little wars in Latin America and other Third World countries as a fact of life rather than source of political outrage. Instead, it is focused on two protagonists who, with their differences in age, experience and ways of doing things form typical “buddy buddy” pairing. Tom Berenger plays the role of no-nonsense veteran very competently, while Billy Zane looks too young and too Hollywood-like to be treated seriously, although it brings couple of humorous moments. Peruvian director Luis Llosa, on the other hand, takes the script seriously but handles material with decent amount of skill, maintaining good tempo and wrapping up somewhat predictable story in satisfying way. Film, shot on the locations of Panama and Australian state of Queensland, has jungle setting very much like Predator. Inevitable comparisons with McTiernan’s masterpiece make Sniper look much inferior, but Llosa injects sufficient number of new characters and plot developments to make this film different. Although critics didn’t like Sniper during premiere, Llosa used its commercial success to maintain his Hollywood career in 1990s. The film itself received eight sequels (with ninth being in production in 2022), although all of them were produced for television or direct-to-video.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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