Sniper: L'ultimo baluardo

Want act-ing? Get you some Laurence Olivier. Want act-ion? This is it. Plot? Sure there's a plot. Evil arms dealer, mad scientist, super weapon, ruthless dictator, loyalist militia, elite band of freedom fighters . . . Have you put together the mission yet? Of course you have.

Why didn't the militia bad guys just shoot the brave lady freedom fighter instead of letting her hack eight of them to pieces with twin battle axes? Please.

I just wish all these action stars would listen when I tell them to pick up the fallen bad guy's Kalashnikov instead of trying to fight off the rest of the bad guys with a half-empty SIG.

Kinda corny Butch-and-Sundance ending though. So the director got to have a little fun with us. Grin and bear it.

"a leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

Leadership is an action, not an position."

but that the team who chose its chief because its will follow him until the end for its action continues over the death.

Indeed, The phrase "efile noma ephila" means "whether dead or alive" ("que ce soit mort ou vivant") in Zulu. It's an important expression in Zulu culture, showing their strength and determination to keep going no matter what happens. It reminds the Zulu people to stay strong and true to their values, even in difficult times.

This phrase is used in stories, proverbs, and songs to teach lessons about being tough and staying connected to their community and ancestors.

So, "efile noma ephila" is a way of saying that the Zulu people will keep going and stay strong, no matter what.

Nb: The name "Esterhazy" comes from Hungary. It is connected to a place called Esterháza near Dunajská Streda, which is now in Slovakia. The Esterhazy family started in southwestern Slovakia and became important in Hungarian history, especially with people like Count Nikolaus Esterházy and Prince Paul Esterházy.

Count Nikolaus Esterházy (1583-1645) was a powerful nobleman in Hungary. He helped the Habsburg monarchy and fought against the Turks. He became Palatine of Hungary and was important in making Hungary stronger.

Prince Paul Esterházy (1635-1713) was Nikolaus's son and the first prince of the Esterházy family. He was a great soldier, fought the Ottoman Turks, and supported the arts. He made the Esterházy family very rich and powerful.

Until I looked this movie up I had no idea that the underwhelming 1993 Tom Berenger/Billy Zane movie 'Sniper' had 10 direct-to-video sequels. This is the 10th. I haven't seen any of the intervening movies and I may have missed some references and callbacks. Fortunately for me the dialogue is a combination of rah-rah trailer lines and exposition dumps so I had no problem following along.

Elite ex-Marine sniper Chaz Michael Michaels joins the world's most diverse special-ops squad to take down Imhotep and free the people of Costa Verde, who are downtrodden because their country exists in the shadow of its dynamic big-budget neighbor Val Verde. Imhotep has devised a weapon which causes the same concussive damage to human tissue as a grenade - except it requires databanks of servers, it's effective to a shorter range and it works 10,000% more slowly. Diabolical!

To keep this deadly new weapon of minor destruction from falling into the wrong hands, Chaz and his friends must fight off the private army of the commie fascist dictator of Costa Verde, which is also conspicuously diverse and includes a whiter-than-Icelandic woman with an eyepatch. Some might call this immersion-breaking; but if you think about it, a commie fascist dictator is about the most likely person to insist on DEI hiring policies in his private army.

This movie is an unapologetically corny slice of low-budget 1980s-style action cheese. It's refreshing in its simplicity, its clunky optimism, its straightforward morality and its violent action. Turn your brain off and just have fun with it.

After the horrendous "Rogue Mission" the franchise took a step forward with 2023's "Sniper: GRIT" and is officially all the way back with "Sniper: The Last Stand", the eleventh movie in what has mostly been a reliable, if somewhat cliched and stereotypical B-movie franchise.

Mercifully and thankfully, this film does away with the cringey alleged-comedy that dotted the last two instalments and returns to the franchise's more serious roots.

Fair to say there isn't as much sniping as you might expect from a movie with the word 'sniper' in the title. However, there's enough bloody, gory action - some of it in John Woo-style slow motion - to sink a ship. Maybe two.

Chad Michael Collins returns from and centre as Brandon Beckett for the eighth time in a row. He was almost being a bit-player in the last two movies, but is unquestionably the star once again, kicking butt and taking names. The dude is a lethal weapon.

Ryan Robbins' Zeke Rosenberg is also back (for the fourth time), and the chemistry between the two is spot on. The character has really grown on me since "Sniper: Assassin's End".

The title makes you wonder if there'll be a twelfth entry in the franchise. Here's hoping that we haven't seen the last of Beckett and Rosenberg in acion.

How do you make a shoot 'em up film boring? Well, they did the seemingly impossible with this latest installment. It was the least engaging of the movies in the franchise. Almost nothing to entertain the viewer. The plot was so bland a third grader could write something more interesting. The dialogue was absolutely atrocious. One boring cliche after another. And the acting. Don't get me started with the terrible acting. Not a single person in the film could act. Where did they find these people? You could pick a dozen folks off the street, dress them up in cammo and feed them the lines. They'd probably do a better job the the 3rd-rate actors who populated this mediocre film.

If you're looking to waste an hour and a half of your time, check this one out. About the only thing they did right was the fighting scenes. Actually, no. They didn't even do that right. It was almost like they were having a contest to see how bloody and gory they could make it.

Just an overall waste of time. You've been warned. The only good thing is this is hopefully the last one they make. Just make it stop!

P. S. Believe all the low ratings. This one is a stinker!

MovieJunkieMark.