Sniper: Legacy

Straightforward and predictable. Shallow with not much tension to grapple with. It's good enough for a lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

What can one say about people trying to track down a Marine who has become unhinged. Nothing much except to follow where they go until the time comes to settle scores.

Tom Berenger's role doesn't do much to elevate this film. And he acts as if he was an automaton. The son's portrayal doesn't offer much either.

This move is worth a look see just because there are not any excellent movies made anymore. This movie is in the middle and that is why I gave it a 5 out of 10. There was not much of the movie to follow because if you have seen one you have seen them all. I like Tom Berenger ever since I saw him in "The Big Chill", so I was glad to see him doing some work since he has matured. Also I was glad to see a movie that was not distracting with a lot of nonsense showing nudity and sex. I enjoyed seeing a good movie about Snipers. I would put it up there with "American Sniper", even though this one is just fantasy. So get out the popcorn and set down for a decent watch and enjoy.

.... 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.

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 ...

"One shot, one kill." Brandon Beckett (Collins) is an elite sniper following in his father's footsteps. When he finds out that a rogue US sniper has been taking out high ranking military officers he wants to find a way to stop him. When he finds out that his dad, the legendary Thomas Beckett (Berenger) was one of the victims it becomes personal. Collins is on a quest for blood but when he is ambushed he is surprised that his father is the one who rescues him. Now the two of them together must not only stop the assassin but figure out who it is and why he is doing this. I have to admit that I have seen all of the other movies in this series but I don't really remember any of them. To me that's not the sign of a good movie. They are all pretty much the same thing and a little too slow for me. My son has really enjoyed these so we sat down to watch this together. I had to fight to stay awake and so did he. When it was over his only comment was the last 15 minutes was good the rest was really boring. I have to agree, when you watch a movie called Sniper you are looking for action and suspense. This one focused too much on the father/son aspect which normally is a good thing but the writing and dialog were not the best and the movie just seemed to drag on and on. There was a lot of planning scenes and not enough action scenes for either of us to stay interested in. Overall, fans of the others may like this but be prepared, there isn't as much action as you have come to expect from this series. I give it a C+.