Action movies will always appear in movie theatres as long as there are young boys and men who never quite grow up. I’m not disparaging the action-movie demographic as I readily admit that I enjoy shoot-‘em-ups as much as anyone else. However, lately, most action movies are crosses with other genres like science fiction (The Matrix), spy thrillers (the James Bond franchise), capers (The Italian Job), and even comedy (Mr. & Mrs. Smith). Straight-up action has been largely relegated to the straight-to-video bin, where names like Steven Seagal, Tom Berenger (Oscar nominated!), and Wesley Snipes appear regularly.

2007’s Shooter is a return to respectable pure action--there’s no time-traveling, no espionage, no boosting, no joke-telling. Everyone plays it for “real” without winking at the audience. Mark Wahlberg has come a long way as an actor, and even though his role in this movie doesn’t challenge him much, he is a believable presence.

Wahlberg plays Bobby Lee Swagger, a retired Marine sniper who is framed by shadowy government figures for the assassination of an Ethiopian archbishop. Swagger goes on the run in order to clear his name and to uncover the conspiracy. Shooter avoids asking the audience to suspend too much disbelief by avoiding making Swagger a one-man army; Swagger is aided by a marginalized FBI agent and his best-friend’s widow. The script efficiently reveals exposition in a handful of brief conversations. Otherwise, you get a series of well-executed tense, adrenaline-pumping set pieces.

Unfortunately, the moviemakers took themselves a little too seriously and let a few scenes play beyond necessary marks. At the end, you have to sit through a distended shoot-out even though you know exactly would happen when you get a righteous vigilante taking on immoral capitalists. This is really the only weak point of an otherwise solid red-meat flick.

David McCoy