Great Action Movie.

Rating: Null/10 (14 May 2012)

First off I would like to point out before watching this film I had never heard of it. A friend recommended this to me out of the blue as a good action film to watch, and I was pleasantly surprised.
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Mark Wahlberg plays a great lead in this film as Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger, a former military sniper who is abandoned during a mission which leads to his best friend and spotter being killed. After the back story, the film picks up with Swagger approached by members of the US government including Colonel Isaac Johnson, (Glover), who ask him for their help in an attempt to stop an assassination on the President. After reluctantly agreeing to help the government, he heads off to stop the assassination, correctly inducing the assassination site with where the sniper shot will be taken from.
He is ready and waiting for the sniper to make his move, when the plot unfolds that Colonel Johnson had always planned for Swagger to be the scapegoat for his own uses, and they try to kill him. After failing to take him out he goes on the run, wounded from 2 gun shots, and is now a worldwide target for the entire nation to find.
He escapes the chase with the FBI/ Police, and after partly patching himself up, he goes to the only person in the world who he believes might believe his story, his best friends widow Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara). She aids Swagger by stitching and healing his gunshot wounds, and Swagger leaves to hunt down those who tried to kill him to clear his name.
While Swagger is on the run, FBI agent Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) who Swagger had a brief run in with whilst escaping, is trying to figure out what really happened. After inspecting the sites of the assassination, he is beginning to feel that Swagger might be innocent. He is intensely trying to figure out what happened, when Colonel Johnson wants him rid of before he tells the FBI what he has found out.
Henchmen of the Colonel snatch Memphis and begin to interrogate him, and they begin to set him up to look like he committed suicide, when Swagger appears and saves him. Swagger teams with Memphis and they go together to find out more information and evidence to prove he is innocent.
The Colonel, knowing Swagger is getting close to collecting the information he needs to prove his innocence, capture Sarah Fenn. Jack Payne (Elias Koteas), the Colonels right hand man, plays a borderline psychotic government agent who helps in the capture.
The climax of the films comes together when they meet in a snowy mountain location, suited to Swagger and his sniping skills, and after taking on the odds of 3v1 sniping, he prevails and collects the evidence he needs to prove innocence. Swagger meets with the head of the FBI and clears his name, but the Colonel is unable to be prosecuted as they have insufficient evidence to prove his guilt. The FBI throw a small hint to Swagger on how to solve that problem!
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The performance from Mark Wahlberg was the stand out performer in the film, with Danny Glover and Michael Pena also playing great parts. The roles of Kate Mara and Elias Koteas were slightly exaggerated at times, but it did not bring the film down by any means.
The action scenes, specifically the sniper scenes were shot and played out very well, especially at the beginning (grass environment) and the end (snow environment). Each scene showed how Swagger used the environment to his advantage and how it helped him overcome the odds.
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Anyone who enjoys a good action film should definitely give this a watch.