| Product: |
Shooter (HD DVD) |
| Date: |
04/07/07 (131 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Exciting action, Wahlberg on fine form
Disadvantages: Underused supporting cast and Danny Glover
When skilled marksman Bob Lee Swagger loses his friend and "spotter" in a bungled military operation, he retires from the forces and goes into hiding, alone apart from his pet dog for company. Believing that he has become completely untraceable, he is understandably suspicious when his former superiors track him down, turning up at his home with details of a very important task they need him to complete. Military intelligence indicates that an attempt is to be made on the President's life, and the only way that it can be foiled is to employ the best marksman they can think of to go undercover and outwit the would-be assassin. That marksman has been identified as Swagger and in spite of some obvious misconceptions; Swagger's patriotism dictates that he is unable to decline the request.
The mission goes well. Swagger undertakes a number of visits to various locations, identifying which is the most likely and provides the necessary intelligence to protect the President. But to his horror, an incident unfolds, resulting in the death of a foreign national – and suddenly Swagger finds himself the prime suspect. Injured and on the run, he starts a desperate fight to clear his name, whilst at the same time bringing down the men who betrayed him. But he's going to need some help……
Director Antoine Fuqua's CV is a mixed bag. In the mid to late nineties, he worked extensively within the music industry directing promotional videos before he moved on to direct feature films. It's not an uncommon path these days, with such luminaries as David Fincher and Zack Snyder having built very similar career paths but Fuqua doesn't yet seem to have found his niche. He's directed a historical epic (King Arthur), a war drama (Tears of the Sun) and a bad cop thriller (Training Day) but that "cult masterpiece" continues to elude him. Shooter is Fuqua's latest release. Based on a popular novel (the first in a trilogy to feature the Swagger character) it is certainly Fuqua's strongest material to date, putting ticks in plenty of the requisite boxes demanded by the genre and its fans.
Essentially a good old-fashioned action yarn, Shooter is exciting, interesting and absorbing with a relentless pace that prevents the viewer from dwelling on some of the plot inadequacies. In spite of the ridiculous name, Bob Lee Swagger is a likeable and empathetic character and whilst he could never be described as complex, his adventures make for a genuinely gripping tale. Whilst every member of the audience could point out to Swagger that he's about to walk into a terrible trap, his willingness to do so is obviously an integral part of the story and we love him all the more for it. Needless to say, what he finds is a far more complex web of political deceit with ramifications that go far beyond his initial suspicions. That in itself might sound like a bit of a cliché but it's timely and relevant to the modern political climate.
Swagger himself is, not surprisingly, straight from the same school that produced James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne, given only that it seems virtually impossible to outwit and / or outdo the fellow. An expert at marksmanship, covert intelligence, hand to hand combat and just about everything else, cynics would argue that his "superhero-manship" is a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but the genre relies on such things and he's no more overblown than any other fictional hero. More like Bourne than Bond, he still retains a certain vulnerability that keeps his feet on the ground and compels people to help him, almost instinctively. This seems to play perfectly to Mark Wahlberg's abilities who combines his buff physique with a characterful portrayal of Swagger that seems almost guaranteed to commit him to further sequels with the character. He looks the part; he sounds the part; he IS the part. I'm a huge fan of most of his films, but in Shooter he's really found his thing.
An inevitability of such a story is that alone and on the run, Swagger must find an ally and in Shooter he ultimately ends up with two. Initially, he falls into the arms (almost literally) of his dead friend's widow, Sarah, hoping that she will believe his tale. Needless to say, she does (particularly when she sees what he's packing beneath the sheets) but otherwise the character drifts in and out of obscurity in a rather random fashion and could really be filed under "gratuitous love interest", particularly given the director's virtual inability to keep the camera away from her rather erect nipples. It's s shame because actress Kate Mara is very good and seems wasted here. Things move on, and Swagger allies himself with a suspicious FBI agent Nick Memphis who (verging on the corny side of things) takes up a role as his new "spotter" in the pursuit of the bad guys. Safe to say, it all stretches plausibility somewhat but you can't help rooting for the pair of them as they start to pick their way through the bad guys with relentless efficiency.
On the other side of the fence we have Danny Glover who puts in a rather jaded turn as Isaac Johnson, Swagger's old boss. I've never been a keen fan of Glover but here, he seems utterly bored and in it for the money. He's also sporting as strange set of teeth braces that make turns most of his dialogues into a Toad-like hiss, a la Wind in the Willows. Ned Beatty's Senator Charles Meachum is exactly what you might expect a senator to be, at times risking caricature over characterisation.
The action is competent and explosive with a heady mixture of combat, car chases and double crossing. The director puts together an entertaining mixture but seems to run out of room for all the planned goodies up his sleeve. One scene from the trailer showing an aircraft being remotely detonated by a mobile phone is dropped from the final cut altogether and other moments are slightly hurried. Notably, Fuqua falls foul of some of the most cringe worthy genre clichés, with lots of slow motion and Swagger "swaggering" away from an exploding building, cool as a cucumber whilst fire and debris comes hurtling towards him. But for every groan there are at least two gasps, with exploding helicopters and breakneck chases more than making up for the shortcomings.
In its class, Shooter is hugely enjoyable; an action romp that excites and entertains without getting too silly. Mark Wahlberg is excellent; his back story is useful without being excessive and there are enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes until the final credits roll. It all pretty much works for me.
Recommended
Shooter is released on DVD in the UK on 13th August.
Summary: Good all round actioner - Antoine Fuqua's best to date
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