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Shelf Beauties |
Shooter In the interest
of fairness, I have to make you
aware that I know Stephen Hunter – author of Point of
Impact, the book this
movie was based on. Granted,
I don’t
know him well enough to where he will lend me money to buy a hamburger
today,
and let me pay him back on Tuesday, but he knows where to find me if I
rip his
movie to shreds. Luckily,
it’s a good
movie and we can avoid what could only be characterized as a sumo
wrestling
match between the two of us Mark “Don’t
Call Him Marky
Mark because he is an Oscar Nominee” Wahlberg stars as Bob
Lee Swagger – a
former Marine sharpshooter who retired after a mission went awry in
Ethiopia,
and he was left behind for dead (Dude, I hope you get to live tax free
after
that. I would walk
into Dunkin Donuts
and waive that tax free card like it was gold!).
Three years later, Colonel Isaac Johnson
(Danny Glover) tracks down Swagger in the remote mountains of When Swagger is framed in an
attempt, can he escape and prove his innocence? Shooter might be a bit far
fetched and overly convenient at times, but it is a thrilling action
movie
because director Antoine Fuqua knows how to blow stuff up and Marky
Mark knows
how to kick some booty! Throughout
the
movie, he involves us visually as we see the shooter’s
vantage point, get those
classic shots of our hero triumphantly swaggering away from explosions
and are
presented with a get away scene that could cause car sickness among the
weak
stomached in the audience. Fuqua
keeps
the action going, doesn’t try to impose some lovey dovey
story on us, and always
keeps the audience wondering what is going to happen next. Shooter’s only
drawback is
some problems with the story and script.
Writer Jonathan Lempkin sometimes wants us to
believe ridiculous twists
and turns in the story that could never happen.
Sure, this is a movie and I expect some of that, but
there is a limit,
especially some of the closing scenes involving Swagger trying to
ferret out
the men who set him up, and an attempt to prove his innocence that is
beyond
comprehension, and feels like it might have been dreamed up by 13-year
old boy
who has a remarkable understanding of firearm mechanics. However, Lempkin gives us
enough cool details
to make us respect Swagger, his knowledge and abilities, which makes us
believe
he would have an ounce of a chance to escape the FBI, Philadelphia PD,
US
Secret Service and Homeland Security.
Some of the bad guys are so over
the top they might as well be twirling their mustaches, but Wahlberg
keeps it
interesting and grounded. Shooter is rated R for strong graphic violence and some language.
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