“Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast.” After 3 weeks delay, Shooter was released in India today - Friday, the 13 April, 2007. I began to think of Mark Wahlberg as a good actor after The Italian Job (btw, he will be doing The Brazilian Job in 2008).
Some of his other movies that I liked are - The Departed, Four Brothers, Perfect Storm and of course the Planet of the Apes. Mark plays Bob Lee Swagger, a tough retired Marine Sniper who have retired into the woods after an incident. This is a movie of guns, lots of head-shots and not-a-new plot. The story of the movie have been done over and over again in Hollywood or any other movie industry - alright, remember the 1997 flick Most Wanted.
Swagger know how to hit his target from over 2 miles out and knows how to judge the wind condition, and ballistic coefficients of the bullet. He know if to shoot a little higher in stationary target or ahead in a moving target when firing from a long distance. He know if the bullet will take 5 seconds or 7 when fired from a distance. Swagger knows his job.
Shooters are patient people, they wait hours and hours before their target shows up. And when the final hour comes after adjusting the levels, gears, screws and the scope, they enter a time freeze which is commonly known as the (if I can recollect that properly) Cold Zero in the sniper’s term. That is the moment between all the waiting and just before they squeeze the trigger.
The movies starts off with Swagger and his spotter, Donnie Fenn deep inside an enemy’s location at Ethiopia stationed on a hilltop to fend off their approaching army against some rebellion. Under extreme hostile condition and an un-determined chopper attack Swagger and Donnie were left on their own as “they are smart enough to go that deep, they will figure out a way to come out”. Donnie dies with multiple bullet wounds from the chopper gun, Swagger somehow felt that it is his fault that he took Donnie to the sniper academy and is the reason for his death. He exiled himself into the woods with a dog, who knows how to open the fridge and deliver a beer bottle.
However, Swagger is reluctantly coaxed by Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) to help them foil a plot to assassinate the President. Johnson explains that there has been attempt on the President’s life during a tour of 3 cities and will be done by a sniper shooting from miles away. As Swagger is one of a best shot, Johnson ask him to think like the sniper and plan a plot to kill the President. The government agency wants him to act as a Spotter and help them nab the sniper before he can take out the president.
However, Swagger was betrayed and he runs away. The movie tends to drag a bit with doctoring the wounds, the saline preparation details, the list of items to buy - are they really needed to be that detailed there! He somehow got 2 person on his side - Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara) the widow of his late friend-spotter and a rather intelligent but not field-type-guy, Nick Memphis (Michael Pena). With them, they somehow got to the root of the conspiracy theory that went to the top of the government power.
So, if you want to enjoy the movie, forget the story - it was done over and over again. As for the actions, the scope, the kills - I kinda like it specially the white snow scene where Swagger have to race against time to shoot the other snipers. Btw, what the hell was that subtitle for, it covers the lower half of the movie. We don’t need that in the hall, we will buy DVD for it if we need it.
Yesterday was about honor. Today is about justice.
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