REVIEW: Sniper: Legacy (2014)

Runtime: 98 Mins
Rated: R
What To Expect: An exceptionally hideous and cheap looking DTV movie with poor script and directing

When I see a sniper movie with Tom Berenger on the cover, the last thing I want is a movie with Berenger in it for about one third of the duration, complete with bush-league rap music.  “BOOM, we locked and loaded”, yelled the angry gangster going through his lyrics.  Yes, I actually listened closely to see if this ‘art’ might somehow contribute to the movie, giving Don Michael Paul the benefit of the doubt.  It turns out that it did not.  Worse, this is possibly the ugliest DTV in history, filmed mostly in Bulgarian garbage dumps.  To top that all off it has a nonsensical screenplay.

The story in this movie doesn’t make sense.  A CO goes after a rogue killer taking out famous snipers, then proceeds to tell the son of one of the victims (Chad Michael Collins, carrying the ‘legacy’ of his father’s work) about it before warning him not to get in the way of his top secret mission to take out said killer. In that case, why tell him in the first place? You just guaranteed that the son will interfere and screw with your own operation.  So, you’re hunting a rogue sniper, with an additional sniper trying to do the same thing, stalking your team – common sense dictates that your team will probably kill him by mistaking him for target.  Excellent screenwriting.

Worse is the director’s eyeball for succinct and coherent action – or lack thereof.  The first big action sequence in the movie is a disaster, with Don Michael Paul in way over his head.  It’s completely bewildering, where you don’t know who is shooting at what, or why.  I’m not talking about shaking cameras here, rather a complete lack of spatial coherence.  Tom Berenger of course isn’t even involved, his extended cameo doesn’t begin until one hour in.  The setting by the way, is Syria, probably the first movie to tackle that civil war.  This means that the abolute worst locations of Bulgaria are used – landfills and dumps, the types of places people sneak into to relieve themselves of an old couch or broken dishwasher.  The idea is to recreate a ‘warzone’, see, but it isn’t fooling anyone.  It’s hideously cheap, possibly the ugliest ever DTV.

I always like watching Tom Berenger, no matter what he is in.  A true manly man.  I’d give this movie some props simply for his presence and the fact that Berenger will never phone it in, regardless of how dire the production is.  There’s also a cool Jackal-style automatic .50 sniper rifle, controlled by the bad guy’s smartphone.  That was cool.  But otherwise, say no to this shit.  Enough.  This is barely even a movie, even for DTV standards things are deteriorating badly.