Hit the target

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2007)

I enjoyed this film. More so then even I imagined I would. I thought Mark Whalberg did a cracking job in the lead role, and I can not believe this is the same member of the well know boy group in the 80s. It seems like he has come so far since those early days.
Briefly the story is about an ex marine (Swagger) who is hired in order to ascertain how an assassination might take place on the President. He is subsequently 'set up' and has to go on the run. Along the way he enlists the help of his dead partner's widow, and an FBI agent who realises that the assassination isn't all it seems.
Mark Whalberg did exceptionally well in this film, especially as the supporting cast did not produce the best performances I had ever seen. The film moved well, and I didn't have to keep checking my watch. There were some parts where it required a lot of imagination in order to believe some of the things Swagger did, for example the second helicopter scene (you'll know which one I mean)
I also thought that the film had finished twice before it really did:
1. At the mountain meeting, where Swagger decides to destroy the tape evidence (honestly, why bother getting it in the first place, and damn nearly getting himself killed?) 2. At the presentation during which he demonstrated that his gun doesn't work and therefore it is clearly a set-up (why didn't he just do that in the first place?) 3. Finally the ending, where he kills the Senetor and the Colonel (surely he should have just done that in the first place?)
All in all, if you're looking for cracking action film, with a good entertainment factor, and something that you don't insist should be realistic, then I would definitely recommend this film.