The Sniper franchise led by Tom Berenger is worth a shot. There comes a certain point in a franchise's run where there are so many entries, casual audiences have a hard time telling them apart. Most viewers probably couldn't say which Halloween featured Michael Myers getting his ass kicked by Busta Rhymes, or correctly name all the Fast & Furious movies during a quiz. Given that the Sniper series has been going straight to video for over 20 years, the odds are strong few people realize it's now up to seven entries.
The series launched way back with the original Sniper in 1993, a theatrical action thriller starring Tom Berenger (Inception) and Billy Zane. Berenger played veteran Marine sniper Thomas Beckett, who is partnered with Zane's rookie Richard Miller on an important assassination mission. The first entry plays like a dark character study with occasional action scenes, as Berenger's weary, hollowed-out killer is confronted by a partner who is in no rush to score his first kill.
It became a cult film in the years following its release, which eventually led to 2003's Sniper 2. Tom Berenger returned for this Craig R. Baxley (Storm of the Century) helmed sequel, where an even wearier Beckett comes out of retirement for an assassination gig in Serbia. Beckett lost his trigger finger in the first movie - which the sequel gets around by having Berenger bend his "missing" finger in most shots - and is partnered with a cocky death row prisoner as his spotter. The sequel isn't great but a combination of Berenger's committed turn and decent action scenes keep it entertaining.
Berenger returned once again for Sniper 3, which was originally set as the final entry. This featured Beckett heading back to Vietnam to kill a friend he thought had died decades before, which provides the story with some emotional heft. The action suffers from some unnecessary flashy edits and the plot is paper-thin, but again, Berenger holds it all together, and its cool having a STV series focused on a 50-plus lead with some real acting chops.
Following Sniper 3 there was discussion of making a fourth entry with a dual timeline plot, with Berenger in the present and a young, Vietnam-era Beckett to be played by Chad Michael Collins (Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare). Instead, a reboot called Sniper: Reloaded arrived in 2011 featuring Collins as Beckett's never before mentioned son Brandon, who wants to track down a sniper that killed his men. Billy Zane returns to mentor and is a hammy delight throughout. While Berenger is missed, Collins made for a likable lead, the action is well-staged, the scenery is beautiful and the movie is probably the best entry following the original.
Sniper: Legacy united Berenger and Collins, though the former's screentime is limited. Sadly, Legacy is probably the weakest of the bunch, though it did add Dennis Haysbert (24) to the cast. Sniper: Ghost Shooter from 2016 swapped out Berenger for Zane again in the revolving door casting of the series for a competent, though forgettable sequel. The most recent sequel, 2017's Sniper: Ultimate Kill, is the Avengers: Endgame of the series, reuniting Berenger, Zane, and Collins, with Reloaded's Claudio Fäh coming back to direct too.
The novelty of seeing Beckett and Miller back together is undermined by their lack of screentime, while the bulk of Sniper: Ultimate Kill's action is left to Collins. Those complaints aside, it's a solid, punchy b-movie. There doesn't appear to be any plans for another Sniper movie right now, but for action fans looking for an undervalued franchise, it might just hit the target.
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