Sniper: Legacy

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Sniper: Legacy" (2014) is a poor B movie. I don't have problems to watch B movies from time to time, but they should be done good, and if the director can't handle B movie, he will not going to have a big career. I loved the first "Sniper", it was one of my childhood movies along side with Rambo etc. - it was a very good thriller. I kinda also liked "Sniper Reloded", it was good fun. Now with "Sniper: Legacy" - it's not fun movie at all. It's badly written - i couldn't understand what was happening actually in this movie, it so badly edited / directed and written that i was confused through all movie - really, it's not that this movie has got complicated plot, i think it tried to have one, but in the end the whole plot is just a mess without any real suspense. And if you don't have suspense in a movie about snipers, than you are in a bad company with picture. Even Tom Berenger was a disappointment, he was totally not the character i remembered from the first Sniper, it's was more like a cameo for 10-12 min.

Overall, you can safely skip this movie, it's not worth your time.

Are you convinced that your script-writing skills are mediocre at best? Not to worry! This (series of!) action movies demonstrates that any script can be made. You are free to use every cliche you can think of. Fill out the running time with maudlin, emotional monologues with only incidental relevance to the story. As to story, just pick anything that's already been done, the more times the better. Make sure the bad guys fit the current stereotype, Russian, or "middle-eastern", or undefined quasi Asian. Fill out more run time with music-only exercise sequences demonstrating the discipline and sexiness of our hero. I don't have space to describe all the things you will learn from this movie. Watch it carefully. You got this. Time to move to L. A.

Is a Sniper Legacy something you'd aim for? Sorry for the pun, but it's one of the big questions of this movie. And while none of the sequels ever reached the heights of the first sniper movie, this is a pretty decent effort indeed. Tom Berenger might be too old for this, but he's not the main character in this.

This is a sequel, but I think it works without previous knowledge of the other movies. The action is decent too, as is the "acting", for a genre movie like this. Do not compare this to anything else, it'll look weak in comparison and wouldn't help you enjoy it at all. The story is filled with clichés obviously and you will be able to see where it's going ...

Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Nice to have a proper back-story going on and great to see Berenger back. Also a real feast of different weapons on display. The action sequences are superbly shot and executed and the tension racks right up to the end. The movie covers a lot of ground and felt at times like one of the Bourne films. I personally love seeing characters like Berenger's develop and age. Not quite the same character study as Eastwood in 'Unforgiven'! But nevertheless, here he is, he's been through it all and still going strong.

As for the reviewer mentioning the beret and it having a medical corps badge on it. Thats' normal in black ops. The medical insignia is the one that's least likely to provoke hostility in an enemy if taken captive. It's commonly used. I know. Special operations personnel, when on a covert operation, would never ever wear anything that revealed their true identity. The medical corps badges give you the best chances of survival as the medical corps are regarded as the most benign. There you go. Just a bit of detail for you.

But all in all, a worthy chapter in the Sniper canon.

.... and they didn't.

Let's start with the positives. The cinematography is to die for. The direction is rock-solid (something many tired sequels can't claim) and the idea of re-imagining the "spotter" as a member of the fairer sex is, well, clever. And visually engaging.

But the clever stops there.

For the record -- and this is an old and cranky reviewer writing this -- I saw the first SNIPER in a theatre. One of the old ones. With a second floor and balconies. It was not bad. At the time Berenger was considered to be "the next big thing" and could do no wrong.

In my view, if you had suggested to Berenger at that time (hypothetically) that the rest of his career would be mainly TV roles, and that the occasional Sniper "redux" would be his only ongoing star turn, I think he would have been shocked.

Just like this reviewer is shocked that, in spite of the cinematography and direction, this film essentially falls apart after the first 20 minutes.

Which is sad because Berenger, in his late sixties, might never get another chance to do this right.