Shooter - B

In theaters. 126 minutes, R-Rated.

Shooter is a by-the-numbers action movie with a semi-believable story, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). Mark Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger, a Jason Bourne style US sniper that has retired from the military after a bad experience at the hands of his commanders. Danny Glover is the bad, shadowy 'Colonel Johnson' that co-opts him for a seemingly legitimate mission, which turns out to be a set up to frame Swagger (not a spoiler, that is shown in the trailer). Swagger then teams up with Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) an FBI agent that doesn't believe Swagger is the would-be assassin and then the two of them mete out vigilante justice, etc.

I enjoyed this movie, despite its reliance on the ridiculous and overused US Senator/shadowy government colonel/oil pipeline boogeyman storyline as Swagger's primary foil. The movie drags in several places, and could have used a rewrite to get rid of the implausible government conspiracy theories and hokey references as well as its unintended homage to The Fugitive and Syriana.

Kate Mara (Heath Ledger's grown daughter in Brokeback Mountain) is convincing in her brief role as Swagger's caretaker/love interest. Wahlberg is solid in his portrayal of Swagger, and Pena provided the movie a bit of levity as Memphis.

Favorite scene: Swagger and Memphis seek out an eccentric ballistics expert to build his case that he wasn't the shooter. The old man is well-written and the interactions between the 3 men is smart and funny.