Shooter

It's hard to find a good action film these days, but this one fits the bill neatly despite its flaws. Let's hop right into it. Walberg plays an ex-sniper who disavowed the job but remains well-practiced (just in case of what?) and well-known to certain officials. In an attempt to help some government agency in determining an assassination plot on the president, Walberg is framed for the attempt. The rest of the film tells how our height-disabled hero will find and then dispatch the officials who set him up for the fall. Gun battles ensue.


Well, there are a lot of unbelievable parts of the movie, and a pretty unbelievable sidekick. But this is an action film with all sights (pardon the pun) on Walberg's heroics. The action is good and starts relatively early. Some over-the-top sequences will leave you chuckling. For instance, there were two parts I couldn't overlook. At the end, a hostage trade occurs on a glacier. Somehow, Walberg and sidekick arrive on the glacier which is only accessible by helicopter (I'm assuming the trade wasn't planned for several months in the future, as time would be of the essence). No way that could happen. Second, Walberg-turn-mercenary assassinates the ultimate antagonist at the resolution. He thus assumes a role of one above the law to kill someone for acting above the law. Do we see the conflicting irony? He loses hero status.

I give it a 6.5 outta 10 because the hero's character isn't a figure like Rambo, and a lot of the action scenes are just laughable. However, it is action, so it must be given the benefit of the doubt… as one would a mentally handicapped child.