The Sniper is a Hong Kong action thriller directed by Dante
Lam, a Hong Kong director who excels at highly stylised action/thrillers. The
Sniper is another one, though it’s definitely style over substance. That’s not
to say that there isn’t substance – this is a movie that bases itself on a
strong central theme of rivalry amongst its three main characters, with a
psychological undercurrent underlying its stylistic visuals and action. It’s a
well-crafted, engaging film throughout.
OJ, a hot-headed police officer, is scouted into a Special
Forces sniper team by expert sniper Hartman after demonstrating excellent
marksmanship under pressure in a hostage situation. With Hartman’s professional
tutelage, OJ excels in his training and becomes one of the best snipers on the
team. With a strong competitive spirit, he quickly becomes fascinated by the
numerous records set by Lincoln, Hartman’s disgraced former partner/rival and
the best sniper the team ever had.
Lincoln’s confident but risky shooting caused his downfall
when, during an intense hostage situation, he ignored orders and took a risky
shot that caused the death of a hostage. In the aftermath he lost his position,
his reputation was tarnished and he was sent to prison. Recently released,
Lincoln harbours a deep grudge against his former unit for not backing him up,
particularly feeling betrayed by Hartman. He teams up with Tao, a wanted crime
lord (and the target of his failed shot), to get revenge on his former sniper
team and prove he’s the best sniper of them all. While Hartman quickly tries to
hunt down and stop Lincoln, OJ becomes determined to beat his records and
begins to emulate Lincoln’s unorthodox shooting style, finding himself torn
between Hartman’s hard, by-the-books tutelage and Lincoln’s instinct-based
natural skill.
It’s a pretty slick action/thriller flick, boasting some
great visuals, a cool premise and oodles of style. It’s also a pretty concise
and precise movie, not wasting too much time outside of its own plot and
keeping things moving forward at a good pace, moving from character
interactions to action with a good flow. It does enough to keep itself engaging
and interesting throughout, with a few twists towards the end to spice things
up. The action itself, fitting its focus on snipers, is more measured than
usual shoot ‘em ups. There aren’t many shootouts at all, with most sequences
playing out like standoffs or operations, the sniper/s observing through a
scope and firing when appropriate. The finale does go out in a big way with a
sniper battle that’s bloody and claustrophobic.
If there’s one fault, and it’s a fault due to the plot’s
design, it’s that the film struggles to make some of its characters compelling
on their own. It’s focused mostly on the main three main snipers, meaning
almost everyone else comes across as underdeveloped or simply insignificant
(the rest of the sniper team are basically extras). The focus on psychology and
rivalry suits the film, because outside of it the characters don’t really have
a lot to them. In a weird way the conflict between characters is what makes the
movie – the ideas of rivalry and revenge push the film along.
OJ ends up being almost a side character for much of it. The
film doesn’t spend much time with him and he’s not actually that involved in
the main plot (he’s more of an observer). The film very briefly looks at the
influence of both Hartman and Lincoln on him but he doesn’t have any meaningful
interactions with the latter while the former is his boss. It’s distinctly not
his story, though he’s positioned as the main character. That being said, it
doesn’t really matter since he fits in with the three-way rivalry plot, acting
as a personification of the struggle between Hartman and Lincoln. It also helps
that he gets to blast away with a sniper rifle on a few occasions.
There are a fair few superfluous scenes thrown in involving
various characters’ families and personal lives that are meant to flesh them
out a little more, but they don’t serve that function too well. Hartman’s wife
tries to kill herself and OJ’s father is a washed up gambling addict who
demeans his son – both of these things get a single scene’s worth of attention
and then are never mentioned or referenced again. I understand why some of them
are there – OJ pushes himself to excel to prove to himself, and his dad, that
he’s not worthless – but they don’t really work as intended. If anything they
sort of pull us away from the tension and the central three-way
rivalry/relationship that makes up the heart of the film.
Despite its faults, The Sniper works due to how direct and
concise it is. It’s a stylish, finely tuned film with enough substance to
present a story and characters that, while simple at heart, fit together well.
It’s a tight little number, and well worth watching.
