Shooter review

DVD of the week – With guns blazing and conspiracy theories galore, the action-packed Shooter is one for the boys, with plenty of eye candy courtesy of Mark Wahlberg to keep the girls entertained too.

With a distinct lack of action rushing through SoGlos.com’s ‘DVD of the week’ series we thought it was about time we picked a flick for the boys. Thankfully with this week’s release of Shooter, adrenaline-junkies can get more than their fill of car-chases and high-octane explosions, with more special effects than you can shake a stick at. The fact that there is also a great storyline and some pretty good acting helps too, of course.

Fresh from his Oscar-nominated role in The Departed Mark Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger, a moody master marksman for the US Marines, turned log-cabin hermit after a mission in Ethiopia went bad. With an armoury of sniper rifles and a trusty dog for company Swagger hides away in the hills for three years until Colonel Isaac Johnson (played by a wooden Danny Glover – the weak link in an otherwise excellent cast) comes calling with a plea for the sniper to help with one final mission, to potentially avert an assassination attempt on the US president’s life.

Despite his honourable intentions Swagger inadvertently walks into a political trap which finds him on the run for a crime he didn’t commit. Cue the A-Team theme, well not quite, but Swagger does embark on a hunt to the death for the people who set him up, with support from Michael Pena as a bumbling FBI agent and Kate Mara as the scantily-clad love interest.

Just as we wouldn’t tell you that Bruce Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense was a ghost all along, we’re not going to spoil any more of the storyline secrets from Shooter. We will say however that the film based on Stephen Hunter’s novel Point of Impact, is a well-crafted suspense, packed with political theories and potshots at the Bush administration, as well as some excellent action sequences.

All in all Shooter is a worthy addition to any film fan’s collection, regardless of whether it’s Mark Wahlberg or his shooting that you’re interested in.

Film: Shooter
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Kate Mara
Classification: 15
Release date: 13 August 2007
Available from: Amazon for £12.98

Also released on DVD this week is Nip/Tuck Series 4, starring Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon and Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

Michelle Byrne
13 August 2007