Much better than expected

Rating: 9/10 (2 June 2009)

Shooter is one of those rare joys where a film which, on the face of it, offers an average package of enjoyment, turns out to deliver much more.
It is an action/conspiracy thriller where protagonist Wahlberg's master sniper is manoeuvred into position as a patsy for an assassination within a conspiracy where all loose ends end up dead. The tension in the film is created by uncertainty as to whether Wahlberg's resourcefulness will be sufficient to protect him against the sheer power of the forces ranged against him, both political and physical.
The film is intelligently plotted and steers clear of many of the glib shortcuts commonly encountered in such movies. For instance, Wahlberg is shot early on and, rather than soldier on manfully clutching his wound, he actually has to address the fact that the wound is sufficiently debilitating that it will kill him unless it is properly dealt with.
The action sequences are well realised, there is some interesting gun stuff if that's your thing, and the performances are all good. Wahlberg delivers on the action, although his performance is not particularly nuanced, and I was never convinced that the incisive intelligence of this well-trained survivor resided within the same body as the action man hero. Danny Glover's voice seems to have developed a speech problem of some kind.
I enjoyed this movie a great deal more than I expected to.