Shooter

The thought that Shooter, the 2007 Mark Wahlberg action flick, released fifteen years ago is a scary one indeed. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film released during a popular time for its leading man and sticks out among one of his better genre films from that time. The story was adapted from a literary series by Stephen Hunter and, as this enjoys its 4K re-release on home media, it felt like the action franchise that never was as it sits alone. The white cover carries a resemblance to the Jason Bourne boxset which lists all five films but with Bob Lee Swagger, there's only one. 

Wahlberg stars as a veteran sniper, Swagger, who seeks a peaceful life in the Montana mountains with his dog after he is abandoned on a secret mission in Ethiopia, where he loses his best friend in the fighting, but he's called back into action to help prevent a presidential assassination by a mysterious colonel, played by Danny Glover. Something goes wrong and Swagger soon finds himself on the run as the target for the FBI while at the centre of a conspiracy. 

Fuqua's career is a mix of highs and lows having made the enjoyable remake of The Magnificent Seven but then there's also such duds like the 2004 adventure, King Arthur. The Equalizer films fall somewhere in the middle but Shooter is still a very fun action thriller and ranks among one of the better films for Fuqua and Wahlberg. The pacing is generally good even at two hours long, although Rhona Mitra's expository scenes felt like something an extra draft might cut, the action is fun with several good sniping sequences even if they lack a certain polish, and Glover's turn as the villain is highly enjoyable to watch. 

Shooter is by no means a great film but I would have enjoyed seeing where the character could have gone to next and I wonder how that might have changed Wahlberg's career, who is pretty good here. The main takeaway though is Glover who, alongside Ned Beatty, makes for a great villain and it's a shame we have never seen more of that from him since. As for Shooter, it's an easy watch for action fans but isn't the most memorable or likely to make Jack Reacher feel he's at risk of any harm.