Film: Shooter

Despite its poor acting, tacky script and straightforward plot, Shooter manages to do quite well. The makers of this film seem to know exactly how to paint an action flick by numbers; there are no delusions of grandeur here.

Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlburg) plays yet another "best of the best" soldier, specialising in sniping but a dab hand at espionage, covert ops and even medicine. The plot is that of typical cat-and-mouse, with Swagger being set up to take the fall for some assassination or another. To be honest the details don't matter - the film is easy enough to follow while half asleep, which makes a change from the quite heavy stuff I've been watching recently.

Shooter is a throwback to the great action films of the last decade. It won't win any Oscars, but as an action film it's great. Definitely worth a punt.