Shooter almost hits the mark...

Rating: 7/10 (26 September 2011)

Mark Wahlberg plays a retired US army sniper who is called in as a specialist when a threat to the President's life is made. He is then set-up and he becomes a fugitive, fighting to prove his innocence.
Shooter is one of those films which gives you lots of reasons not to like it but can't help but enjoy it. Wahlberg does a decent enough job and the action set-pieces are all very nice.
A few major downsides include being filled with clichés (ex-soldier falling in love with his best mate's widow etc), Danny Glover looking uncomfortable doing a bad guy role, and the film feeling like it's going to end several times, and so the final 30 minutes feel clunky and ultimately the film fizzles out, when it could have finished with bang.
All in all, if you don't take this film too seriously it is quite enjoyable. It does make me wonder about the book it is based upon - my guess is that it is probably better than the film.