- Director : Oliver Thompson
- Actors : Chad Collins, Ryan Robbins, Sayaka Akimoto, Brendan Sexton III, Josh Brener
- Producers : Bay Dariz
- Studio : Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Dubbed: : French
- Subtitles: : Dutch, Norwegian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovene, Thai, Romanian, Arabic, Finnish, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Danish, German, Italian, Korean, Swedish, Latvian, Estonian, English, Portuguese, Polish, Lithuanian, French, Greek, Spanish, Slovak
- Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Run time : 1 hour and 36 minutes
- Release date : August 16, 2022
The Sniper franchise is one of the properties
that never seems to die, with new films continually released whether audiences want
them or not. There have been many ways to keep the film series alive, with or
without the original protagonist Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger). Even with
Berenger often reprising his role, the series has shifted to focus on his son Gunnery
Sergeant Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins) in recent installments. Honestly,
it doesn’t really matter all that much. Even with characters connecting the films,
the storylines have rarely required audiences to be familiar with the events of
past films.
Sniper: Rogue
Mission is no exception, with a new storyline that only brings in Beckett in as
support to Homeland Security Agent Zero (Ryan Robbins) when he uncovers a human
sex trafficking ring with ties to a crooked federal agent. Knowing they are
onto him, the crooked agent revokes Zero and Beckett’s powers, leaving the to
join forces with the assassin Lady Death (Sayaka Akimoto) to protect a key
witness (Jocelyn Hudon). Having the characters go rogue is a novel idea to do
something new with the Sniper franchise, but it is the stylistic approach which
is most effective.
Filmmaker Oliver
Thompson wore many hats in the production of Sniper: Rogue Mission. Along with
directing the film and writing the screenplay, Thompson also composed the music
for the score. Two out of the three of these were done quite well, but it is
just unfortunate that the third was such a failure. The highlight of the film
is the music, which is high octane while leaning into the B-film elements of
the movie. This paired with kinetic camera work and editing give the film a
Tarantino rip-off vibe, but that only makes the shortcomings of the screenplay
that much more apparent.
It isn’t that
the premise is bad, but nearly all of the dialogue in Sniper: Rogue Mission
feels sub-par. The jokes don’t land and attempts at clever banter between
criminals waiting to carry out violence fall short. It is only when the action
begins that the film is elevated, and mostly only because of the music and the fights
are shot. The choreography itself is often less than believable. The saving
grace of the film is the fact that it is less self-serious than previous
installments. Audiences willing to lean into the campiness may find themselves
pleasantly entertained, so long as expectations are kept low.
The Blu-ray
release does boast a high-definition presentation of some of the stylishly shot
action sequences, as well as the DTS-HD audio, but that’s about it. The package
does also include a digital copy of the film, but that is about it in terms of
special features. There are no extras on the disc worth mentioning.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 1/10
Special Features: 2/10
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