Sniper: G.R.I.T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team

Another year, another "Sniper" movie, or so it seems. This 2023 movie titled "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" is actually the tenth movie in the franchise. Believe it or not.

The storyline in this 2023 movie was a bit weak in comparison to some of the other movies, and held up against the 1993 original "Sniper" movie, then this was a whole different league, and not for the better.

Writer and director Oliver Thompson put together a bland storyline. The narrative in the movie was moving forward at a somewhat slow pace. And that made sitting through "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" somewhat of a mundane ordeal. And for a movie based on snipers, there was a surprisingly little part of the movie's storyline actually devoted to or focused on actual sniping action. Nay, "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" was more of an action movie than a sniper movie.

There were even some futile attempts at introducing some comedy elements into the movie, which played out with little or no success, to be truthful.

Sure, if you haven't seen other "Sniper" movies, then I suppose this 2023 movie could be considered good.

The acting performances in "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" were fair enough, and it definitely was a nice enough thing that Chad Michael Collins, Ryan Robbins and Dennis Haysbert returned to reprise their roles from previous movies.

Watchable for the action movie that it was, "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" somewhat deviated and strayed too far from the original concept of the franchise for my liking.

My rating of writer and director Oliver Thompson's 2023 "Sniper: G. R. I. T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team" movie lands on a five out of ten stars.

What happened to this franchise? It's hard to believe the Sniper franchise has spanned over 31 years with 10 movies but the last two are terrible. I like the cast but the execution, the dialogue and the unfunny jokes ruined this one, just like the previous one. It's hardly about sniping anymore and this one seems to be heavily inspired by videogames like Hitman and Sniper Ghost Warrior and the guards even act like NPC in those games. Even the introduction of the targets are exactly like I have seen in those mentioned games. I mean the action is fine but a lot of scenes are just dumb and ridiculous. If they decide to make another one, please return to your roots.

The set up in the first few minutes tells you it is going to be a silly, campy movie. If you keep watching it past that, you've asked for what you are getting. Since I was immediately prepared, I got into the mindset of being a twelve year old boy in the 1980s and just went along for the ride. It can be a lot of fun to watch if you're in the right mood.

A bit disappointed that Dennis Haysbert has been reduced to this. He's capable of a lot more, and I'm sorry if the powers that be in Hollywood don't see him as bankable. He's the reason we chose the movie. Better casting luck next time, Dennis.

Have they really run out of ideas? From the opening scenes of an overweight cult leader with a star on his forehead that makes for the perfect bullseye, the cheap James Bond garage or batcave hidden in the back of a Chinese restaurant after the first first 10 minutes, it does not really improve.

It is like an awkward teenager trying to be funny and cool at the same time, It doesn't work. The comedy is forced and everybody can figure out what is going to happen next 5 minutes before it does, like we know the tracking device is not in the phones. The actor s do a fair job with what they have but the writing missed the whole Target.

This was a pleasant surprise, all things considered.

Because the last Sniper movie - Rogue Mission - was so bad that even me, a huge, unapologetic fan of every other entry in the long-running franchise (this is the tenth installment, which is hard to believe), was thinking that, if this was the best they could manage, it should be the last. End it, and leave us with good memories of fun B-grade (in a good way) action films about guys named Beckett!

Thankfully, it wasn't the last one, because Sniper: G. R. I. T. is a welcome return to form. And aren't I happy about it?

If you enjoyed any of the previous Chad Michael Collins films, aside from Rogue Mission, of course, then you'll probably agree.

I realised very early on that everything is better here: the acting, the action, the script, which went in a different direction to what I expected after the first few minutes.

The cast look energised - especially Dennis Haysbert, who is probably seen more in this movie than any other Sniper film he has appeared in - as if looking to provide a mea culpa for their collectively shocking last effort. And, they do.

Is it believable? No. Is it violent escapism action fun? Yes. If this is the standard going forward, I hope there are plenty more Sniper movies to come.