Shooter

Everyone’s second favorite bad-ass is back at it again. Mark Wahlberg (The Departed) stars as Bob Lee Swagger (ridiculous name), a disenchanted, reclusive marine. Devastated by the death of his fellow soldier in a botched mission and the military’s subsequent abandonment of him, Swagger begins to question his ingrained sense of patriotism. An expert sniper, he is approached by a Colonel Johnson (Danny Glover, most recently of Dreamgirls) and asked to help prevent an assassination on the president. Johnson and his men know that Swagger is an expert marksman, and they need his help in getting into the mind of the potential assassin. He reluctantly agrees, and begins gathering information on the manner in which an assassin would strike. Armed with this advice, Johnson and his cronies attempt to take out the president and frame Swagger for the hit.

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) maintains a high level of action throughout, and Mark Wahlberg is completely convincing in his role. He’s good at shit like this. Of course the whole I’ve-been-framed-and-now-I-have-to-clear-my-name-before-I-get-killed-or-arrested thing has been done plenty of times before, but Shooter is good enough. Wahlberg’s screen presence alone makes it worth seeing – he’s rarely disappointing. Check it out.