This is a classic revenge movie.  My favorite line had me laugh out loud, "You don't understand, they killed my dog."  For the amazing kill count, the one that mattered most to the anti-hero Bob Lee Swagger played by Mark Wahlberg, was his dog.   Mark plays an ex-Marine sniper that is still and idealist.  After losing a close friend in combat, he becomes seclusive and removed from society.  Years later he's recruited to game out how a possible hit on the president can be avoided.  He's implied in the assassination and once that's done, it's payback time.  And why? Because they killed his dog.  :)

As much as I've let out, I can tell you there is enough here to keep you busy, but the story is predictable.  It is what it is, a revenge action suspense flick.  With a little romance along the way, and an anti-hero on the run Bourne Identity feel to it, you hope the pay off is worth while.  And here is where the movie comes up short.  Small problems with continuity don't help either.  In one scene the President arrives from Baltimore from Camden... Uh... right.  Drive south to come from the south?   Then there were the "hills of Philadelphia" car chase scenes.  No hills in Philly, but hey... it's a movie.

But all these things did annoy enough that when you get to the end and want a decent payoff, something plausible, it isn't there.   At least not after you see films like Bourne Identity or the first Mission Impossible where the people in the wrong that were supposed to be on the side of "right" make sense in their warped decisions and positions.

The action is great.  The shooting is fun to watch, but some of the gratuitous face shots made me uncomfortable.  Perhaps it has something to do with my brother committing suicide with a gun.    I don't think you need to show me what it looks like to be shot in the face on film.   Show me a guy getting a bullet out of his own wound, that implies toughness, it has purpose.  But why see a dead guy with blood all over his face?  It's just sick.  It's not a horror film.

I loved the out door scenes however.  The cinematography here is excellent.  It has a big film feel to it.

Another upside was that they made our government in some aspects appear to be what it is. Mortal.  No one was able to get information in seconds because of some magical database that has all the answers.  None of that crap.

Next is the southern charm played by Kate Mara.  Making a move beyond TV she plays the innocent but capable gone toting widow of  Bob Lee Swagger. Michael Pena plays a green but smart new FBI recruit that has to come to terms with his own tough situation presented by the Presidential assassination attempt. 

While Shooter attempts to be an action film with heart, the drama in it doesn't sell entirely.   It's an entertaining film and I can in fact recommend it, but if you are expecting it to deliver on the level of Bourne Identity, you will be disappointed. Typically, I'm sure the ending was written much more soundly in the orginal book Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter.