Nonsensical, Unreal, Stupidly Cartoonish, and Insultingly Idiotic

Rating: 4/10 (27 March 2007)

"The Shooter" is an extraordinarily disappointing excuse for a movie. In fact, it's so unbelievable that it wouldn't make a good Saturday morning cartoon despite the fact that all the characters are outlandishly cartoonish. The whole film seems to have drawn heavily from the far better done vigilante movies of Charles Bronson. As an armed avenging angel, mumbling Mark Wallberg is certainly no Charles Bronson. Not even close. The cartoonish and stereotypical supporting players are no great shakes, either, but the idiotic story line really doesn't give them much to work with. I had to laugh, though, when I saw short, fat Ned Beatty in the role of a US Senator and wondered if the movie's makers chose him for his uncanny facial resemblance to one of our former Secretaries of State. If so, I'm sure the former Secretary will not be all that pleased.
By far the only good feature of this movie is its cinematography. It's good to see Philadelphia for a change, a city not featured all that often in films; and the scenery in the mountainous far west is beautiful and spectacular.
Thinking about how awful this film is, I've only just realized that for years now explosions and gunfire have taken the place of yesteryear's car chases and demolition derbies in Hollywood's bag of action film stereotypes. I guess when you're making really stupid movies all you can really fall back on to get the audience's attention are explosions. If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with blasts.
Pyrotechnics aside, most of "The Shooter" is just a dismal dud.