Gun propaganda?

Rating: 3/10 (4 August 2007)

Was this movie sponsored by the NRA? Love of guns is central to the movie, both visually and plot-wise, and guns are presented as the tool of the good patriot passed down from father to son to fight for justice and freedom. But what really happens is Wahlberg's character spends most of the movie violently shooting people in his quest to exact revenge and prove he's innocent of shooting that one person he's been accused of shooting. Make sense? The side of the movie that is intended to justify this behavior - awful happenings in "Africa" (that faraway land) lead by a few rotten apples in the government - is skimmed over and abstract. The bad guys end up charicaturally evil... The whole point of the movie isn't justice and freedom, but guns and how cool they are.
That said, it was rather enjoyable up to halfway through and I found it fed my craving for a good gun-filled action flick filled with mystery and cover-ups... Wahlberg's character is hilarious: he is a true American cowboy, independent, strong, with only his guns and big dog for company.
This could have gone well, especially if the movie had stuck to the action-suspense genre: good actors, direction, etc. But the plot is so poorly developed and the violence so unsatisfyingly justified that it ends up being a disappointment.