Engaging

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2007)

I have seen Shooter three times now. The scenery is gorgeous. Awesome. The emphasis on long-range sniping mechanics means that a lot of mile-away scenes abound, but even so the vistas are pretty wonderful.
There is a lot of blood and gore, but the feeling is somewhat remote, not related to a slasher-type gore fest. Like the discussions of technical matters in shooting long-range, the blood and sprays are a part of the story telling, an accompaniment to the shot. A reminder that not only was the target hit, but the bullet killed the target. The blood seems a touch of reality that reminds us that the point of shooting is death, not just completing a difficult task for the shooter.
The first time I watched Shooter, I thought of the Bourne movies. Wahlberg seems to be presented a few times to deliberately borrow from the appearance of Bourne, probably to borrow from the success of the Bourne films. But this film is different. This is about a quiet individual, looking for answers. A Marine scout sniper searching for peace after the death of his fellow soldier and friend just before retiring.
On the down side, the editors of the film need their hands slapped. Several scene transitions stand out as exceeding bad, disruptive of the story, discontinuous. And perhaps the director just failed to get the cabin scenes to come together: 'rougher than a corn cob'.
Language. The 'F' word is used about four times in the movie. So seldom, it felt jarring and out of place. Like other roughnesses and detractions, it seems this should have been changed. Not because using common language is bad, but because using the 'F' word where they did takes away from the gift that the movie makes to the viewer. Like the editing, this is something that a professional filmmaker should have seen before shooting, should have been obvious while shooting, and should have slapped the editor and screeners across the face with 'needless mistake'.
This story could have been shot as a western, and done well. Set in today's world, the nature scenery is awesome, the hero is compelling, and overall the story is interesting and rewarding. A feeling of determination and grim accomplishment prevails; this is not about the excitement of mayhem, or even beating the bad guys.