Mark Wahlberg's Shooter Is Making Waves On Netflix Across The Globe, But Is It Worth Revisting?
Author Stephen Hunter's first Bob Lee Swagger novel, "Point of Impact," was published in 1993 and spawned a novel series that lasted seven volumes. The most recent Swagger novel, "Dead Zero," was published in 2010. Hunter also wrote several novels about Earl Swagger, Bob Lee's father, who died in 1955 but passed his passion for combat and shooting onto his son.
Antoine Fuqua's 2007 film "Shooter" is based on "Point of Impact" and starred Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger. In the film, as in the novel, Bob is a former Marine who has become disillusioned with the military, instead choosing a quiet life in a remote cabin, constantly shooting and tending to his gun collection. Bob is approached by a shady government organization to stop an assassination attempt. Naturally, Bob is revealed to be a patsy for the shady organization and is framed for an assassination. Also, many years prior to "John Wick," they kill Bob's dog. On the lam, Bob must use his sharpshooting skills to track down the bad guys and exonerate himself.
One needn't read the original novel to see that "Shooter" functions 100% as a light, action-packed, pulp airport read. It is one of the many, many illegitimate children of Tom Clancy's oeuvre. "Shooter" is shallow, violent, and an easy-to-consume puffball of a movie. Wahlberg's performance is never anything more than functional. Although he doesn't appear in the movie, one might also be forgiven for assuming Tony Goldwyn is in "Shooter." Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Elias Koteas, and Ned Beatty, however, are.
For reasons unknown, "Shooter" is currently one of the more-watched films on Netflix around the world. According to FlixPatrol, the film is #1 in Australia, Colombia, Cyprus, Finland, Ukraine, Morocco, Turkey, Iceland, Sweden, and Panama.
What's the deal?
Is "Shooter" a hidden classic? Are film watchers of the world uncovering a secret masterpiece that came and went with little fanfare in 2007?
Most certainly not. "Shooter" is the very definition of "nothing else was on" when watching it on cable TV. It's the perfect movie for airplane viewing. It's the type of movie used to fill out a catalog or playlist, not the one people go to with enthusiasm. "Shooter" is a "comfort watch." One might even watch it twice or three times, not because it's intriguing, but specifically because it's not. "Shooter" is easy to consume, easy to understand, and easily forgotten.
"Shooter" was only warmly met when it first came out opening to a mere $14 million, behind the animated film "TMNT." It currently holds a completely appropriate 48% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most of the reviews cited Wahlberg's noticeable weakness at playing a stoic "tough guy" character like Bob Lee Swagger was on the page. The character is named Swagger. Perhaps hire an actor with that quality.
Arguably the most beloved thing about "Shooter" is its unabashed and irresponsible weapons fetish, a quality noted by the world's gun nuts. There is a website out there, lost in barren, alkali flats of the internet, called the Internet Movie Firearms Database, which meticulously records details of every gun used by any character in any movie. That website's entry for "Shooter" contains details on six sniper rifles, five assault rifles, four machine guns, eight handguns, two shotguns, and two mortar launchers. If you like cinema, "Shooter" is unapologetically mediocre. If you like bullets, eh, fuggedaboutit.
Military fetish
An inescapable truth about Hollywood: no studio can make a film about the military without express cooperation from the military. Studios often borrow uniforms, vehicles, and the like from the American armed services in order to film stories of soldiers and combat. Because of the cooperation, however, few studios will be able to make a movie that is roundly critical of the military or of war in general. As such, most films about soldiers tend to be very positive about their value and their experience. Yes, there are many antiwar films in the world, but how many times are American soldiers seen as outwardly villainous? There's a reason why films like "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket" or "Apocalypse Now" are so striking.
Bob Lee Swagger is disillusioned with the military, but "Shooter" depicts his shooting skills, ultimately as a superpower. "Shooter" is one of many Hollywood films that vaunts and even fetishizes the military. Being a sniper, the film says, is really, really cool. There is no depth or irony to Bob Lee Swagger's soul. He is a stoic, anti-military gun nut living in a remote cabin in Arkansas. But for a few tweaks, he would be a mad survivalist.
Perhaps the appeal of "Shooter" — even to an international audience — is its brazen, pro-violence leanings. Here is a movie about a good guy with a gun taking out a corrupt American government. It is cathartic, right-wing entertainment that taps into immature power/revenge fantasies held by a certain stripe of malcontent. And those types of movies can offer a harmless release valve to all audiences. Are you frustrated with injustice? Wouldn't it be great if guns could solve that problem?
Cinema has long been gun-obsessed. "Shooter" is just a trifling outcropping of that.