Movie Review: "Shooter" (2007)

This not-particularly-intelligent thriller stars Mark Wahlberg alongside Ned Beatty and Danny Glover. Wahlberg plays a disaffected war vet who is recruited to assist in a counter-assassination operation against the President of the United States, but his skills as a long-distance sniper are soon turned against him as he is framed for the crime, leaving the protagonist on the run. Essentially, this is a poor man's version of "The Fugitive" with Oliver Stone directing - the good guys even wear Che Guevara T-shirts.

Given Wahlberg's laugh-out-loud performance in "The Departed", I was hoping for wittier, more humourous dialogue from "Shooter", but what it lacks in that regard is made up for by a decent car-chase scene, impressive explosions throughout, and a high body count. Predictably, there's a lot of US-bashing here, and the "BUSH LIED!! THOUSANDS DIED!!" crowd will find much to like, especially since according to this facile script, senators from Montana, acting alone, are able to dictate US foreign policy in the Horn of Africa.

"Shooter" is really an episode of "24" for the blame-America-first set, and even if that's your cup of tea, it deserves no more than a rental at best.

Overall rating: 5/10