The Marksman (2005)

good back-story, and good acting

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I watched this film of an evening and had forgotten about it the next morning. Cookie cutter is the phrase I'm looking for, because this straight-to-video nonsense is predictable in every way and holds no character of its own. Now, I'm not too worried about the lacklustre story - action films don't NEED great stories, plenty do without - but the attempted flashy direction is really at fault here. Marcus Adams handled the dull demonic horror outing LONG TIME DEAD but he's certainly not cut out for the action genre.Wesley Snipes is the star - Seagal or Van Damme could equally have played the part - and nobody bothers giving him a character, so he just wanders around and shoots bad guys in various badly-directed and poorly-edited clips. There's the usual round of betrayal and heroism, but the whole cast is extraneous, the villains caricatures and originality nowhere to be found. It's neither exciting nor thrilling, and the presence of William Hope (ALIENS) only serves to remind the viewer of what a decent action film should look like.

I was given this film in error when I tried to rent 'Marked for death' from Blockbuster. I can only assume a similar mix up allowed the script to get the go ahead first place. The only (literally the only) good thing I can say about this is that there was some nice lighting in places. Other than that this film was a f*****g abortion. The characters puerile, the dialogue was boring and generic, the plot was ill conceived and unrealistic. I am a big fan of the 'so bad it is good' genre (Death Wish, Commando, Exterminator, that kind of thing) but this does NOT fall into this category. This is just bad in a sense that makes it boring. My advice to you my friends is don't bother, get Marked For Death instead.

...that I would bet does NOT show up on Wesley Snipes' resume. I think he must have owed someone a favor or something. "The Marksman" plays like an inept child's G.I.Joe fantasy, right down to the lack of accurate detail. Bad costuming, unrealistic military action, lots of fiery but totally unbelievable bang-bang, enemy soldiers who can't hit the broad side of a barn, terrible dialogue, wooden performances from one and all, pedestrian cinematography from a career TV DP, shot on-the-cheap in Romania; one can only wonder who greenlighted this thing. Like I said, Wesley must have owed somebody. Maybe Andrew Stevens, who embarrasses himself in a brief cameo role, and was dumb enough to co-produce this turkey. Even Wesley didn't do that! Strictly for the desperate. Glad I got it at the library, that's for sure.

From the beginning to the end... it's just bad, okay... even the special effects and everything else were bad enough... i mean even... okay In one scene where Snipes is over the Russian guys on top of the door, it's like as if they're BLIND! I MEAN COME ON! HE's FRICKING THERE! jeez.Also the guys who got tied up look like a bad version of high school dropouts who couldn't get a job at a radio shack, they all look clueless and go, wt do we do now -__-" This movie is so horrible, it isn't even worth grabbing it for FREE. honestly. if a friend of yours or a relative offers u this movie, say NO! it is THAT bad.