Sniper - Tireur d'élite

Two snipers travel deep in the jungles in search for their targets; a slimy South American drug-lord and a prominent general.

Moderately successful at building a brooding atmosphere, Sniper is by most accounts a very solid thriller, taking it's time, establishing it's characters and their plight and climaxing in some good action sequences. Director Llosa isn't always successful at maintaining the sombre mood and could have tightened the story somewhat; some detours here don't add up to much. But this film is far better than his Stallone/Stone travesty The Specialist.

Billy Zane, usually incredibly tiresome, does surprisingly well as the inexperienced Sniper teamed up with veteran Berenger. As for Berenger this film proved to be his last good big budget Hollywood venture. He can do these kind of roles in his sleep and he's very convincing here, reprising the role twice more in direct to DVD sequels.

A jungle setting is the backdrop here as the "Heroes", one a lifer snipe with 300 confirmed kills and the other is a rookie with a fetish for bulls eye targets and not filthy foreign flesh. This, of course, sets off a chain reaction of a love-hate relationship in the middle of a deadly assassination assault.

Both characters have moments of believability with Tom Berenger almost always assuring, but is haunted by his key-chain mementos of fallen fellow soldiers. Billy Zane is convincing as a whiny, reluctant participant that enters into a "Baptism of Fire" and becomes a convert.

This is a somewhat inconsistent and incoherent insight into the mind and soul of the Military's role in global affairs and the personnel it trains and positions in ambiguous assignments where the motivations of the soldiers are "ours is not to wonder why...".

Political and moral considerations aside, this can be enjoyed by the action and military fans that want their fiction to rely on psychology as much as patriotism. It is an engaging outing, if dense and heavy handed at times.

Deep in the jungles of South America...lies a professional army veteran. A pro with firearms, this sniper aims using deadly efficiency and he eliminates his targets in a silent, slick manner. Familiar with the territory, proficient in both armed and unarmed forms of combat, this soldier, fluent in both English and his native Spanish is a man who shoots first, and asks questions later. His covert missions are usually top secret...and he works alone too. This time though, he has company.

For it is imperative that this new assignment be accomplished as quickly and stealthily as possible... Or else...all hell will break loose in a whirlwind of fury...

Tom Berenger is an experienced, suicidal marine who has acclimatized himself to handling all forms of jeopardy. Newcomer Billy Zane is an amateurish tyro...who cannot make his first kill. In the vast jungle-lands of Panama, the two snipers are assigned to assassinate a Colombian druglord who has the potential of gaining power in the government. The two men arrive only to find themselves caught in a maelstrom of vehemence. The two encounter conflicts with their enemies...and eventually each other... The pressure is on!

SNIPER is a mediocre motion picture. This film tries to be more of a psychological drama than an action thriller. True, there are lots of macho philosophizing; slow motion bullets flying at close range; bold, tough guy effrontery, and an almost all male cast with no female leads. What makes SNIPER more unique though is that this movie has better character angles than expected. Billy Zane, for one, actually shows the right stuff in this movie. Zane does a superb job portraying a rookie sniper with a conscious...and a short fuse. He demonstrates the vulnerability, the problems, and the integrity of a soldier coping with the focus of his mission...and the nature of his deeds. Berenger does a fine job also, delineating a cocky, over-the-top Sergeant with an itchy finger constantly on the trigger. The two leads have created a couple of emotionally ambivalent characters (although fabricated in a banal manner) who must deal with their purpose...and each other's weaknesses.

Excellent performances by Tom Berenger and a young, show-stealing Billy Zane lift SNIPER from turning into a complete fiasco. Consequently though, in spite of some well executed action scenes and an inkling of tension permeating throughout the movie, SNIPER is surprisingly tepid in the adventure genre. The technically well-staged action scenes for example are somewhat unpolished and they lack finesse. The photography is also swift; just the rest of the movie, including character development doesn't really come close to swiftness.

This ambitious character study just misses the mark. The nuances of character are there, but the film as a whole is no different from most other action pictures. Unfortunately, the pace in SNIPER is extremely vapid, with more screen time spent on characters talking and running around rather than generating any real action.

In spite of the faults evidently gathered in SNIPER, this flick is a tolerable action movie. The action isn't really exhilarating, and the thrills in SNIPER are left to be desired for. Still, Billy Zane and Tom Berenger salvage this film from transforming into a complete mess. They work well together and though the plot is itself contrived, and these two characters are atrociously full of clichés, the two main leads do add credibility to their parts. Director Luis Llosa (ANACONDA, THE SPECIALIST) has designed a dubious, but OK, just not great film. If you are not demanding a high caliber thriller, then you'll find this motion picture to be serviceable.

RATING: ** out of ****.

Though the plot may be familiar (mistrustful pair teamed together to go on a dangerous assignment), the premise of having two snipers as the protagonists is interesting. The film builds on this by offering an insight into the psychological effects of this kind of warfare, but ultimately this degenerates into a yarn. One with a particularly limp ending at that.

Berenger is convincing in his portrayal of a hardened, veteran sniper, completely impassive in what he does. Zane, however, doesn't really pull off his role as an Olympic medal winning shooter who has to face his first live kill. The pairing never truly gels, which is a shame as it's their relationship that's important over the actual plot.

The film looks great, largely set deep in the Panamanian jungle. There are some exciting moments, cool camera tricks and even some genuine tension. It's just a pity it didn't hold together better.

This was huuuuugely favorite movie of a buddy of mine when we were kids. I hadn't seen it in probably that amount of time but found it on the streams the other night.

This movie definitely made "bullet time" a thing in movies and video games.

Tom is great in this. He's kinda typecast in this roll but he does it well. Also Billy is really underrated in it as well. A young hot shot that hasn't had much real world experience with the grizzled old veteran who knows everything. You're not sure if you like Zane's character or not but he pulls it off really well.

The movie isn't overly cliche and that's refreshing considering the time period. I was scared it would have aged poorly but it's still really good. Heck I might appreciate it now more than I did back then.