When I think of the phrase “action hero”, actors like Clint Eastwood, Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis and Chuck Norris spring to mind. They’re the archetype of the genre, big names that plugged and performed in as many action films as they possibly could. Billy Zane is not a name that springs to mind, not just because barely anyone has really heard of him and invested time into his career, but also because he’s certainly not a name anyone would associate with a series of action films. Still, that doesn’t stop him from starring in a hefty chunk of Sniper and its many, beloved sequels. I’ve never delved all that deep into forgotten action films of the 1980s and 1990s, but it’s something I would like to spend more time in.
One of my first attempts at really digging my heels in and getting to grips with this genre and I feel like I’ve picked a film rightfully forgotten by fans of action movies. There are definitely appealing segments scattered throughout Sniper, they just never form into anything coherent. A few good ideas are implemented every now and then. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of all is the relatively strong premise. An unwavering, flag bearing veteran of the field, Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger) finds himself on yet another mission with new partner, Richard Miller (Billy Zane). Not quite seeing eye to eye, and with Beckett holding a growing reputation as a dangerous partner to have in the field, Sniper invests a fair bit of time in developing the relationship between its two characters.
Zane and Berenger have some solid chemistry with one another. It’s enough to get us from A to B, but nowhere close to a dynamic that could survive more than one outing. They both play relatively stereotypical and cliché roles that cater to the norms of the narrative. Berenger playing the older hero dealing with grief of losing his former spotter, and Zane not grasping the dedication of Beckett and worrying for his own life over the necessity of completing the mission. It was engaging, but a great deal of scenes felt completely out of place, and at times very random. Although we do receive plenty of time to build and grow alongside these leading characters, there’s nowhere close to anything coherent enough to manage anything tolerable.
Director Luis Llosa doesn’t seem to have clicked onto this though. Those that find themselves in this position would most likely just ramp up the action and call it a day, providing a film without depth but with abundance of action. Llosa has so much faith in his cast that he forgets to plant an engaging enough amount of action throughout. We do get a couple of bust ups, shootouts and tense moments, but none are close enough to interesting. If anything, they feel a bit mundane or even rather bland. These scenes take us nowhere in particular, they’re criminally boring at times.
But it’s hard to fault Sniper all that much. It takes a unique concept and fumbles it tremendously, but rather admirably at the same time. A budding chemistry is certainly present between Zane and Berenger, sheepishly making their way through a few bizarre and disconnected setpieces under the direction of a man trying to force some form of emotive angle into the film. It’s certainly not worth watching, but it’s hard to knock it too hard. It’s tremendously harmless, but perhaps that’s worse than being interestingly terrible.
