Film Review: SHOOTER (2007)

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Running time: 120 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Thriller/Action/Drama
UK Release date: 13th April 2007

Watched on DVD Sunday 3rd July 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film is based on a novel by Stephen Hunter caller “Point of Impact”. It charts the betrayal of a marine sniper and his efforts to clear his name. Originally set around the time of the Vietnam War, the film brings events up to date and into the 21st Century. There’s plenty of action and explosions, and even a damsel in distress, so it covers most of the bases. I’ll give you my thoughts after a brief summary.

Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger is on a mission in Africa when is spotter, and best friend, Donnie Fenn is killed. Left to die by his superiors, he eventually gets out and immediately resigns his commission. Three years later he’s living alone in the mountains with his dog when a Colonel Isaac Johnson comes to him with a proposal. There has been a threat on the President and they believe only a highly trained sniper could carry it out. They want Swagger to scout out possible locations and report back to them. They play on his patriotism and eventually he agrees. On the day the threat is due to become real; they insist he attends in order to advise them. Little does Swagger know, he is about to be set up. Injured, he escapes and, with the help of a couple of friends, he plots his revenge.

A very well made film with some nice action scenes, stunt work and CGI. A decent plot with plenty of twists and turns, not all of them too predictable, thankfully. Performance wise, I thought Mark Wahlberg did a decent job as Bob Lee Swagger, as did Michael Peña as FBI agent Nick Memphis. Of the bad guys, the pick of the bunch were, Danny Glover as Colonel Isaac Johnson and Ned Beatty as Senator Charles F. Meachum. Oh, and I should also mention the damsel in distress, Kate Mara as Sarah Fenn.

As revenge thrillers go, this is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. There are no stand-out performances, outstanding dialogue or even radical plot-twists. One thing that did strike me though, was the total lack of humour, not even one wise-crack from a bad guy… quite disappointing. But having said all that, it does do what it says on the tin and I did find it quite entertaining. It’s never going to win any prizes, but still… Recommended.

My Score: 6.7/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0822854/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shooter/
Official Site: http://www.shootermovie.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: BLINDNESS (2008)

Director: Fernando Meirelles
Running time: 121 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 18

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 10th October 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Brought to us by the same man, Fernando Meirelles, who gave us City Of God (2002), which I thought to be a quite brilliant film. I will tell you my thoughts on this one at the end of this review. It is set in modern times where first one man goes blind, and then more and more. The condition spreads very rapidly and the authorities act quickly to put all those affected into quarantine. A doctor finds himself afflicted and quarantined. His wife, not wishing to be separated from him, feigns blindness and is quarantined with him.

This is where the main body of the film takes place. More and more people arrive and the doctor’s wife manages to help as best she can without giving away her secret. But with more people, all blind, comes more problems, and eventually the unsavoury side of human nature begins to emerge. As food supplies become short grievances are raised. It seems that they are cut off from the outside world with minimal contact with the guards, who don’t want to become ‘infected’. An old man with an eye patch arrives with a radio, and for a while they have a little news, but eventually internal battles become the main concern.

This is not a film without a soul; I will tell you that there is a quite excellent ending that, for most, gives them hope. Some excellent use of the camera, I found the shooting style very pleasing to the eye and very sympathetic to the subject matter. I also found the use of language quite interesting, a Japanese couple, when speaking to each other talk in their native tongue, when conversing with everyone else, they speak English. Excellent performances from all of the main cast, in particular, Julianne Moore as the doctor’s wife, Mark Ruffalo as the doctor, Danny Glover as the man with the eye patch, Yusuke Iseya as the first blind man and Yoshino Kimura as the first blind man’s wife.

Throughout the film our emotions are taken on a ride. I found it a very emotional piece because I could see that there are (unfortunately) people in this world that would take advantage of a situation in the way certain individuals are portrayed here. As with City Of God, Fernando Meirelles knows just how to show the worst aspects of human nature, I really hated certain characters, so he did his job well. Over all, an enthralling and very thoughtful drama. It made me question how I might react in a similar situation, but I really enjoyed it in the end.

My score: 8.5/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0861689/

Official Site: http://www.blindness-themovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1844248857/