Fuquas best

Rating: 6/10 (26 September 2007)

I wasn't exactly expecting a miracle when i sat down to watch this movie on DVD. Antoine Fuqua had never made an enjoyable movie before this one, and Mark Wahlberg with his mumbling acting is not one of my favorites. Although, i have to admit that Wahlberg has gotten his act together lately. Expectations where nevertheless not very high.
The story here is easy to recognize, you've probably seen it many times before. One man is betrayed by his government, but is lured back by his sense of duty and patriotism, just to have someone screw him over once again. In this case it's the sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) who is disillusioned when his spotter is killed in some African country (or some such). Now the government wants his help to flush out a sniper who wants to kill the president.
The problem with a movie like this one in the suspension of disbelief. While many movies try to pass themselves off as fairly realistic they still demand that you turn off parts of your brain. This is one such movie. Wahlberg with his hillbilly name constantly faces off against hordes of people who are easily as "elite" as he is. There are all manners of special forces people trying to kill him and he mows them down by the dozens. And not only with sniper-rifles either...
That being said, i still enjoyed this movie in general. The action scenes are pretty well made, the story itself is not very original but it works. Also the actors are pretty good, with especially Danny Glover in good shape. And in general i'm willing to forgive action movies for a lot of the inconsistencies that comes with the package, as long as they are entertaining. So just turn of the part of your brain that says one-man-armies doesn't exist, and you'll be able to enjoy this movie. It is without a doubt Fuquas finest to date.
I rate it 6/10.