In pitting one man against the entire United States, this solid action-adventure movie uses a favorite theme of Alfred Hitchcock: the innocent victim set up to take a fall and becoming the hunted. Shooter stars Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine sniper and considered one of the best. Swagger is approached by slick government officials who say they need his expertise to prevent an assassination attempt on the President while he delivers a speech in Philadelphia. In a spirit of patriotism, Swagger agrees to help them find the assassin by thinking like him.

The moment arrives and the shot is taken, but the President doesn’t fall -- another political figure takes the hit. Swagger is framed for the shot, and is pursued by local and federal police and agents. He calls up all his Marine training to avoid capture, while getting shot up a little along the way. Apparently he learned how to be his own physician in the Corps, and stitches himself up until he can reach his dead partner’s house and get the man’s widow to do a better job of it.

Once Swagger realizes that the whole nasty business is about oil and money and corrupt politicians, he sets off on a trail of revenge that makes Armageddon seem a day in the park. The action scenes are the best things in the movie. There is an incredible napalm explosion that, if there were an Academy Award for Best Pyrotechnic Effect, would easily win. On the other hand, there’s a lot of nonsense in the plot -- but if you can just suspend total belief for a few hours, it won’t distract you too much.

Wahlberg is just right as Swagger. His all-American looks make us sympathetic to his plight, and when he kicks ass, he really kicks ass. We root for him to get the bad guys, who are as corrupt as they come, particularly a sullen Danny Glover as retired Colonel Isaac Johnson, and Ned Beatty as a power-hungry, downright sleazy senator. Swagger justifies his anger at these two and the rest of their government toadies by shouting, "You don’t understand! They killed my dog." And that’s fine with us. Go for it, Bob Lee. Make ’em pay dear!

Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) paces Shooter so breathlessly that you won’t be aware that it’s two hours long, or notice the plot flaws. Just when you’re scratching your head and saying, "Didn’t that…" Bam! Another explosion, and you’re jolted back to Hollywood fantasy. The movie is sumptuously shot, and has a surround-sound design calculated to make the most out of gunshots and explosions without making the dialogue unintelligible. It’s a guy movie that guys will love almost as much as a football game.

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