Conspiracy theory action flick

Rating: Null/10 (8 April 2007)

Mark Wahlberg has certainly come a long way since his Marky Mark muscle flexing days. Now every time I see him in a movie, he blows me away with his acting abilities. When did this happen? I don't think it was even a gradual change. It's like he made The Departed with Scorsese and that was it. There's no stopping him now. I guess we should put every mediocre actor under the direction of Scorsese for a few months and see what happens after that. Hollywood would be the coolest place ever. But until then, we can keep ourselves occupied with Mark Wahlberg and the great line of movies he's putting out these days.
Shooter is Wahlberg's latest achievement in acting. In this movie, he plays an ex-marine gunnery sergeant (Bob Lee Swagger), who goes into seclusion after his marksman partner is shot to death by the enemy in Ethiopia after Swagger and his partner are left to die by American forces during a mission gone wrong. Three years later, FBI finds Swagger in his mountain home he shares with his canine best friend to get his help in stopping an assassination plan against the President of the United States. From this point on, the JFK conspiracy parallels being to surface one after another. The three names, accused assassin being shot, the shooter of the assassin being shot, so on and so forth. But all of these similarities also give the movie a mysterious feel that makes it stand out from the rest of the falsely-accused-man plot lines. Swagger only realizes that it's all been set up when he gets shot. He barely escapes alive, starting the nationwide manhunt. But soon he becomes the hunter. As he tries to bring the responsible parties to justice he receives help from Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara), his ex-partner's girlfriend, and Nick Memphis (Michael Pena), the rookie FBI agent who uncovers the conspiracy. Memphis becomes the perfect sidekick while the movie cleverly stays away from pursuing a love story between Swagger and Fenn. The events that follow the climax don't make much sense at first but they all get tied together in an attractive package in the end.
Shooter definitely lives up to the expectations. In addition to providing great action scenes, it gives the audience a smart storyline to follow with surprisingly honest political views. It's a great movie to get your blood pumping and conspiracy theories floating in your head.