Shooter
Action with heart.
Review by Sr. Guapo

"Shooter" is a movie about good people doing bad things for the right reasons. There are plot twists galore, numerous action scenes and plenty of time for introspection and beautiful views of the Pacific Northwest, Ethiopia, Virginia and some of the nation's most breathtaking political landmarks. The acting is pitch-perfect, too, the actors so well cast that they take the story and make it theirs so easily that you'd almost think it accidental. In short, "Shooter" is a good movie about bad people doing bad things that will have you at the edge of your seat, hoping that good triumphs.

Mark Wahlberg, an actor I've never really cared for until now, is perfect as Bob Lee Swagger. As the movie opens, he's on a hilltop with his Marine buddy. Swagger is a sniper and his friend his spotter. Their assignment is going perfectly, until suddenly their location becomes known. A helicopter flies overhead, guns blazing. Swagger leaves the situation alive and his friend doesn't.

Three years later, Swagger lives in the beautiful forests of the deep, deep Pacific Northwest, mostly alone with his best friend, a dog that grabs him a beer from the fridge when they return home from hunting bear. Swagger's life is as peaceful and idealistic as one could hope for from a man with his past. If you hadn't paid $7 to see him shoot the crap out of everything, you'd never want it to end.

It does, though, when Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) arrives to ask for assistance. Johnson believes that there will be an attempt on the President's life, one made from an obscene distance that shouldn't even be possible. Only Swagger and his knowledge of marksmanship can stop it, he says as he flashes his purple heart and talks of duty and country. Swagger sends him packing, but it isn't long before he's hopped a plane to the east coast. Soon, he realizes there's only one site where the assassination attempt could feasibly go down. He reports his findings then accepts an invitation to stay around and offer his expertise on the big day.

The President is offering an award to some cardinal from Ethiopia. Swagger watches and suddenly-at nearly the last possible second-realizes where the attack is coming from. By then, events have swung their way into motion and the momentum has built into something bigger than he possibly can stop. Over the next few minutes, he goes from valued advisor to hunted man. Fleeing for his life with two bullet holes in his chest, he means to live long enough to find out who masterminded the day's events and why.

From there, the plot never really slows. When it's not about car chases and shootouts and a knife to the throat, it's about Swagger coming to terms with his patriotism and the cost of his decisions. Some action fans may itch at certain spots for the shooting to start again, but the trade-off is more than worth it; Swagger develops into a character it's easy to get behind. He's basically a nice guy, but powerful and corrupt people are on his bad side and they'll pay.

Perhaps the best part of the movie is that they really do. When Swagger ducks behind an embankment as a guard passes over the bridge overhead, he could leave the shadows and bop his opponent on the head like some action heroes might. Swagger is made of stronger stuff. He goes for the juggler and is more credible because of it. The whole movie is like that. When the bad guys need shooting, he does it.

The other characters play their roles well, too. They do human things that will catch you off-guard because you're used to action movies where everyone just scrambles to set up the next action sequence. That doesn't happen so much here, yet when the explosions do come they're satisfying. When Swagger runs out into the open and bullets are flying around him, you sense his vulnerability and you know that he could get shot again because he already has. Most incredibly, you start to lose the sense that he'll live through the end of the movie. He might, but then again, he might not.

Perhaps the only real flaw here is the little sermon in the background. Corrupt government officials are hardly original villains. It's easy to despise the major players, too, and there are the required discussions about the Kennedy assassination and a broken system of checks and balances. Some might even consider "Shooter" a misguided call to action, and maybe it is. Still, if there are times when the story gets a bit ham-fisted, you'll probably still forgive it thanks to the solid pacing (two hours flies by much more quickly than it should) and the credible characters.

"Shooter" is just about as good as an action movie can get, and perhaps the best of its kind since "Enemy of the State." It's not going to make you rethink the genre and there will be snippets here and there that you might not like, but it's the perfect way to kill a few hours if you like your explosions big and you want a little depth to your characters and the plot. Don't mistake it for this year's hottest Oscar contender. Just don't miss it, either.

Final Score: 4.5/5