Alicia
I love this movie so much
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Comeuppance Reviews
Thomas Beckett (Berenger) is called back into action because not only was he "The Best", but he's still "The Best" all these years later. He thought he left his sniping days behind, now that he's taking yahoos on hunting trips. But the government offers him anything he wants to go to Serbia and assassinate Valstoria, an official who has been behind some sort of ethnic cleansing. Sensing a trick, because if the government is offering him anything, they think he won't return alive, Beckett simply asks for a restoration of his rank. So they team up Master Gunnery Sergeant Beckett with a prisoner, Cole (Woodbine), who has a chance to earn his freedom if he backs up Beckett on this mission. But as we know, Beckett has a history of losing partners. Can they execute their mission...and their target? It's easy to think this installment in the Sniper series was made sometime in the 90's, right after the first movie. It seems very 90's. But surprisingly, it was released in 2002. Seeing as the first Sniper was released in 1993, why the filmmakers thought that fans were clamoring for a new Sniper vehicle nine years after the fact remains a mystery. And thus, Sniper 2 does have a "this never needed to be made" kind of feeling throughout. They probably thought it would be worthwhile to have Beckett talk about such things as al-Qaida and Guantanamo Bay, and say things like "Freedom isn't free", thus dating the proceedings to the Bush administration. By comparison, the first Sniper movie has more of a timeless feel, not dating to any one era.It seems like a Nu-Image movie, and it was shot in Hungary instead of Bulgaria. Not helping matters is the awful CGI, which was worse - if such a thing is possible - in 2002 than it is today. So points have to be detracted for that. Come on, that's a betrayal of everything Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett stands for! He shouldn't have to tolerate CGI stupidity. It should be only the real deal for him. He has enough problems as it is (there's some good continuity from the first movie regarding his injuries from torture he suffered). Woodbine, as the backup this time around, makes a worthy foil for Beckett, and he has a very distinctive voice. He should really do voice-overs and cartoons and such. His voice carries his performance here.Director Baxley, who we're normally a fan of, because of Action Jackson (1988), I Come In Peace (1990) and Stone Cold (1991), seems to be taking kind of a paycheck assignment here. He's a competent director, and that shows, but he should have brought the same verve he brought to the aforementioned three movies to this one. He should have made Beckett be able to stand alongside Jackson , Jack Caine, and John Stone as some of his more memorable men of action. Berenger does do his normal high-quality job, but something seems to be missing.As it stands, Sniper 2 is okay. For a movie that doesn't need to exist, it's decent. It's not offensively bad, it's just a bit dull and unnecessary. It's good that it isn't jokey, and we appreciate that, but there's no need to run out and see this.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
Mushroom Cloud
Truly the worst film of it's genre I have ever has the displeasure of sitting through.But... it's possibly so bad that it's good. I mean it actually had me laughing out loud. It is truly that bad.Many points (such as trying to pass Hungray off as Serbia) have been dutifully covered. And the exploding cars. But the funniest thing is the complete, disjointed randomness of the whole movie.Why does ever car explode like it has a case of C4 in the trunk you may wonder? Well check out the tram-hitting-the-police cars scene and tell me why the cars explode BEFORE the tram hits them! Also after Cole is captured, why is there an random clip of a Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado taking off? Why? Also why on earth is Cole picked for this mission? I am of course referring to the fact that he is black and supposed to be going undercover to the Balkans, where he might just stand out a little....If you haven't watched it, and don't have a pencil handy to poke yourself in the eye, then watch this movie. Then pick out your most ridiculous, random moment from this truly shocking piece of cinema. But just remember that's 90 minutes of your life you can never have back.
freeman92
OK, let's get started here. The plot itself is decent. Kill a renegade general responsible for ethnic cleansing and then escape. But that is only the beginning. What is screwed up is that Beckett, who is the main character, is called back from retirement into service, even though he lost his index finger he uses for shooting (and has to use his middle finger for shooting). And Beckett is teamed up with a guy named Cole, who was in jail for killing an officer he suspects betrayed them (he rants about it in the movie in the middle of a battle). The only real good part of the movie is when the Serbian general (who really is Hungarian) is assassinated. The makers of the movie must be on weed. They think that no one will notice that the Serbs are all speaking Hungarian (which has no connection at all to Serbian language even though both nations share the same borders together). Of course, they thought wrong. And since when was a Mosin-Nagant, which Beckett uses, a Mauser? Beckett claims that it's a Mauser. And I thought military personnel were to know their guns. The mission itself supposedly takes place after Milosevic was overthrown in 2000, yet the Serbs claim in the movie they are victims of so-called UN-backed atrocities, but Serbia rejoined the UN after Milosevic was ousted. The acting is poor in many cases as well. For example, Beckett throws his arm up in the air just to look at his watch and when he gives Cole a 'serious' lecture, Cole is about to laugh but holds it in. Had the makers actually PUT serious effort into making this movie I would enjoy it. But unfortunately this is not the case.Overall a 4/10
mvrekic
In this directors world, Serbs speak Hungarian, Budapest is capital of Serbia and Muslims have been living in eastern Europe for 600 years.Nazis and Communists are killing Muslims in the Eastern Europe LMFAO! Acting does not exist.Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from outer space" has nothing on this movie. This is stupidity at it's best made by and for the Average Joe; so he has something "easy-on-the-brain" to watch when he comes home from working at the burger shack.I am putting this as the second worst movie i have ever seen, first one being the "Dracula 3000".
