10 Thoughts on Shooter

Finally took some friends out for a birthday-related outing, of sorts. Saw this w/ Ice and Rona. Spoilers ahead.

• You knew the moment Marky Mark's character tells his buddy, "We're going home" while in a war zone that he was a goner. That was the most predictable part of the flick. And what kind of leading man name is Bob Lee Swagger? I half-expected him to start bible-thumping then ask God to forgive him for having sex w/ a hooker.
  
• Also mandatory for this type of action flick: the supporting character rookie/sidekick (FBI dude), semi-helpless female lead (buddy's wife), and elder statesman/politician (Ned Beatty).
  
• What the hell was up w/ Danny Glover's lisp? Clear braces? Retainer? Hell, was it necessary or unavoidable? Pretty distracting, is what. I wish his character said, "I'm too old fo' thith thit."
  
• Very MacGyverish of them to show Swagger using everyday objects to heal himself (canned whipped cream as knockout gas?) and blow up stuff, but not showing completely how he does it to avoid copycat incidents. Damn, now I'll never know how to make my own napalm.
• If you're gonna have the lead character mumble his way through the technical ballistic jargon, just have him do a Powerpoint presentation, instead.
  
• Suspend disbelief moments: how no-one locks their cars or storage rooms, and how an elementary school teacher becomes an o.k. nurse and master of disguise -- or the rookie FBI agent turned expert sniper-- virtually overnight.*
  
• Wasted talent: Rhona Mitra. Her stint as Lara Croft was more interesting than her role here. They could've at least made her part of the conspiracy.
  
• What kind of f#@ked-up "self-inflicting-gunshot-wound-to-the-head" contraption was that? From a forensic perspective that thing woulda left marks and made the "suicide" look way too suspicious.
• Hunh. Didn't see that climax coming. Half-expected a bigger shootout in the snowy mountains (Btw, how the hell did Swagger get there ahead of them w/o a chopper? With his fugitive status I doubt he could've rented one.) Ah, well, the ending makes up for it.
  
• Better than I expected. It's The Fugitive meets Eraser, only smarter than the latter. Next time I see this will be on DVD w/ subtitles, because almost everyone mumbled their damn lines! Fine, this was based on a novel, but I ain't gonna look it up just to find out what the hell you were talking about.

*Yeah, he was already an expert sniper in the novel, but again, you had to look it up to know that.