|
Mark Wahlberg puts one in your dome and a notch on his gun in the latest from Antoine Fuqua.
 Antoine Fuqua is no stranger to stories of the few fighting against the powers of the many. His latest is no exception; when military sharp shooter Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Walberg) is left for dead during a classified mission he turns his back on the military machine that created him. But they arenât done putting him through the ringer just yet.
When Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) shows up at his door step asking him to put aside the bad blood and use his skills to save the President. Swagger tells him to get bent, but eventually agrees out of some sense of duty or possible guilt. Nothing of course is as it seems and it all turns out to be a big frame up job on Swagger. The fact that he has the standard three part name every assassin needs to join the ranks of John Wilks Boothe and Lee Harvey Oswald is just the cherry on top. Bonus!
Once the set up is revealed the game is on and itâs Swaggerâs turn to split a few wigs in the name of truth, justice, and the American way. Where the film falters most is just the sheer amount of information being presented and how little of it drives the plot forward. The middle section of this movie drags like a line for free doughnuts at a cold crime scene. The film could have been much tighter and more focused, but instead it derails a wonderful set up and pulls you out of the film while you check your watch.
Once the filmâs pace picks up again the plot really starts to come unglued. There are not many explanations in the film in regards to the motives behind the assassination, and even less about what âtheyâ expect to gain from the results. Whatever realistic outcome they were shooting for Iâm at a loss to explain it properly or why they couldnât have done things with a far less complicated plan.
The characters in the film are nearly as out of place as the plot; Michael Peña plays Nick Memphis the clueless FBI agent who suddenly becomes an expert solving the entire case from the break room, Elias Koteas plays Jack Payne whoâs not only a total whack job, but he doesnât seem competent enough to have risen into the ranks of such devious people. Not much explanation for either of them. Sure Mark Walberg and Danny Glover throw out some good performances, but they never fully development their characters and at times it seems like they are on auto pilot; nothing more substantial than that can really be said.
The bright star in all of this though is the action; when they get down to it they really put out some great scenes. The movie tries some really inventive stuff that saves it from just being a drool fest. Had the film focused a little more on pace and action it would have been a great film.
Prognosis: Decent film with a solid premise, but sad execution, they could have tightened this movie up in editing and shortened the running time by about 45 minutes. Matinee or DVD
{zoomcat catid=337}
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
