Snazzy Package, Warmed-Over Ingredients

Rating: 6/10 (14 March 2007)

OK. I'm sorry. I know he's drowning in "Departed" love, but Mark Wahlberg is still just a so-so actor. He's tolerable in stuff like "Invincible" that doesn't stretch his ability. Kind of like Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me if You Can."
Thankfully Wahlberg doesn't go all "Gangs of New York" on us with "Shooter." It is what he is: good-looking yet ho-hum. Kind of like Sylvester Stallone's "Assassins." Granted, the material here never really asks Wahlberg to create a character. So he grunts with pain, stares into the distance, and talks not a whole lot.
Luckily, the action's GOOD, exciting, and filmed well, like when Wahlberg blows up a propane tank which then blows up a helicopter. Cool stuff. Antoine Fuqua knows how to stage a fireball.
Too bad, then, about the ridiculous shadowy-government-conspiracy plot. And couldn't the producers at least have found someone less obviously evil than Danny Glover?
Keep your eye out for one shot that struck me as odd: Wahlberg slips on his sunglasses and struts in sol-mo towards the camera. It seemed to last for five minutes.
Better sniper flick choices: 1973's "Day of the Jackal," 2001's Jude Law/Ed Harris sniper standoff "Enemy At the Gates" (at least for the action scenes) or even 2003's "Phone Booth" with Colin Ferrell.