O Atirador 3

The third stop in the series. Likely Tom Berenger's last go round. A story that nicely comes full circle, Sniper 3 ends up being the next best thing to the original and far and away the best sequel. The original established mood, tone, character and such. I like it a lot, good flick. Sniper 2 didn't do much right in my book. It's sole asset was its brief expansion on Beckett's character. Finally what is there to say about Sniper 4; aka Reloaded? Hi Billy Zane, maybe? Nice to see Miller again.

I won't rundown the story to Sniper 3 like it's epic. It's not, but besides being serviceable - it opens up plenty on Beckett's character, background and isn't that what we tune in for at this point in the road? Yes, the return to it's jungle roots (so to speak) is welcomed, the supporting cast is decent and the sniping portions of the movie feel right, but Beckett's up and down slope is this sequel's strongest asset. Weak spots? Every sequel has dealt lies and predictable betrayal and this one's no different. Oh and taking out a rival sniper with a handgun from quite a distance. That scene made me wince.

The casual moviegoer can rightfully be excused for perceiving Sniper 3 as nothing more than another dtv offering, but fans of the series will want to give it a go. I enjoyed the opening and the finale's efficient ending with what I perceived to be a wink and nod to the original. I went in with lowered expectations because of Sniper 2, but 3 delivered. A good bookend to Beckett's saga.

Yet another bad movie that showcases Tom Berenger's awesome acting talents. I seriously feel so badly for this guy as he was one of the best film actors of the '90s, I mean this was the same guy who was in "Platoon" for crying out loud. He had some pretty classic bad-ass quotes in this as you can always usually expect at least one of them per film but sometimes you get blessed with a few. As average as this was it actually fared substantially well for a direct-to-video release since it was definitely well done in that regard. The action was okay, the best ones were when Beckett is behind the rifle though, as you probably could've guessed. I liked this but I still couldn't help but let out a silent prayer that TB gets one more big-budget movie deal before he's through with Hollywood because he's way too cool to let him slide into oblivion. Please think about it!

Final Quarantine:

Movies: Didn't quite make it there did it.?

DVD Purchase: Only if you need to complete the trilogy.

Rental: Got my money's worth and that's what counts.

Usually by the third installment of any franchise, the stories become bland, and the characters: carbon copies and the charm is lost. Sniper 2 (2002) was a mediocre sequel but it did have some things about it that made it enjoyable. I did not favor how the first Sniper (1993), which was a thriller, turned into an action film for the sequel. I did think it was an interesting take, but it wasn't executed properly. I also didn't appreciate the character that Bokeem Woodbine played. His role was more obnoxious than involving.

Here, Tom Berenger once again reprises his role as the callous marine scout sniper, Thomas Beckett. Berenger still has the character down like he did for the last two films but this time the writers address an issue with his health. J.S. Cardone and Ross Helford make it clear in this film that Beckett is no longer the soldier he once was. Because of the trauma that he suffered in the first film, he now suffers from mild muscle spasms in his hand.

This small subplot may upset some viewers because in a way, it's speaking to the audience saying, "this the last time Thomas Beckett will be on screen". It's visible too. Several times it seems like Berenger is making his character look worn and drained of energy to show that Thomas Beckett is getting too old for the career he tries to hold on to. But Beckett's drawn in one more time to execute his new "hit" that was a man he once called a friend. Too bad flashbacks and dream sequences had to be used when Beckett ever focused on these issues. It's not needed.

Co-starring Berenger is Byron Mann playing Quan, a police operative sent to assist Beckett in his assassination. Mann plays his character rather cool and intelligently. The writers even allowed Quan to make a personal connection with Beckett, being that his father was a scout sniper as well. This at least leads to a comparatively easy-going relationship between these two individuals. Its nothing like the stupid quibbles between Beckett and Cole from the previous film.

As for the rest of the film nothing has really changed. I've accepted the fact that no one's going to bother to try and make this a thriller again. There's still lots of things being blown up, several gunshots and the anticipation of the thriller aspect is unfortunately abandoned. However, the fight scene between Quan and one of the main villain's thugs entertained me. Hand-to-hand combat is always cool to watch no matter what.

Also, the location to where Beckett travels is at least a little more lively and it even allowed Tim Jones, the composer, to make his score slightly more engaging than Gary Chang's half-hearted version of the previous sequel. It's not as good as the first, but it seems to me that there was more effort put into the making of this sequel than that of Sniper 2 (2002). So although it didn't satisfy me much more than the last one, it definitely shows improvement.

The second sequel to Sniper (1993) still has the qualities of a bad action film and relies too much on Beckett's rising personal issues. But what makes this one different is its character development and better music.

Although sniper Thomas Beckett is still known as a master of his "art", his loss of a finger and deal with the Corp to stay with a training programme has now earned him a reputation as a pain in the ass washed out old man. However the NSA need a sniper to take out a Vietnamese drug warlord who has moved into international terrorism. The problem is that this "warlord" is former CIA and Beckett's spotter who has taken his former role of using drug running to fund black ops for the US and expanded it, with the "presumed dead" label helping him to do it.

I'm not sure what made me try this film although rest assured that the offer of a Tom Berenger three-quel is not usually what has me forming a "Star Wars" style queue at my cinema. It was actually reasonably good for what it was though, despite doing no one thing really well and generally accepting for a level of serviceability across the board. This can be seen in the many things it tries to do. It wants to have a conspiracy/shadowy NSA men thing; a "sick of the killing but am nothing without it" character thing; an action movie thing and, weirdly, an Apocalypse Now thing as well. Being a direct to video third film in an unremarkable series, I doubt that dropping all of these and focusing on one would have made them any better so actually it does do a reasonable job of having a bit of everything.

If you're looking for a solid direct-to-video thriller then the little touches surrounding Beckett and Finnegan will be of interest and perhaps be a welcome addition to what the film is doing. Anyone expecting it to do much more than the basics with Beckett's supposedly broken man other than having him mumbling something about being "tired" will be disappointed because of all the things the film does, it generally doesn't take them beyond this level. The film still engages though, despite the way the action rarely actually reflects the stealth of the title or the "one shot" of the tagline. Pesce does an OK job of directing given the usual b-movies he does (which I suppose this is another one of).

The cast are mixed and do mostly do the job , albeit a job where not a lot is asked. Berenger does "grizzled" well and wears it like a pair of old slippers here. In terms of depth or understanding of his character I'd suggest he doesn't bring much out, but then he doesn't really need to. Mann is on hand to do "oriental side kick" duties as is often the way; I like him as he is an attractive man and has an easy charm and he gets to do a fight scene in return for playing second fiddle. Arndt and Duffy are suitably shadowy but the surprise find for me was a solid presence from Streutker. Better known to those with taste as Rawls from The Wire (and if you haven't seen this show then I would suggest you perhaps put that above things like Sniper 3 in your rental queue), he manages to do a good job with basically what is a half-baked rip off of Kurtz. His character is stupid, his motivations worse and the jail room scene just too close to being a spoof but yet the man has presence and he makes for a good big character opposite Berenger.

Overall then, a fairly serviceable DTV thriller. It has lots of things going on but does none of them beyond a level that could be politely called average. However by having them there it does help make the film feel slightly better than it is and, for all it did, I reasonably enjoyed it.

The Sniper series is just as good as any action movie that you'd see at a movie theater. Unbeknownst to the neophyte, these Sniper movies are really spy movies and damn good ones, I might add. The series is well produced, adequately funded and high tech. You won't see any bad acting or hear any lame jokes here. Instead, you get evenly distributed bang for your buck.

In the cloak and dagger realm of Sniper 3, you are taken on a mission to modern day Ho Chi Minh, previously called Saigon. The NSA (National Security Agency) has reactivated a former Marine sniper, Tom Beckett, so as to hunt down and neutralize a target, which is connected to a high level mole in the Washington political arena. Has Colonel Dan McKenna, NSA military intelligence, positioned in Washington D.C., picked the right man for this assignment? Also, can we count on William Avery, Deputy Director of NSA, to oversee the operation through to completion? We have our fingers crossed. Beware the Cobra—revere the Mongoose! and learn about an ancient Vietnamese folktale, as your life will depend on it.

The Sniper 3 soundtrack is upbeat and will delight more than a handful of Ravers. Vietnam in the twenty-first century sure ain't what it used to be, and offers a new light juxtaposed with the age-old, dark world of espionage.

Make sure you check out the other Sniper installments, as they are equally worthy.