[yasr_overall_rating]
When a brutal Colombian drug cartel begins waging all-out war on the local authorities, elite Special Ops sniper Brandon Beckett is recruited to assist a top Colombian Federal Agent.
What do the “American Pie,” “The Scorpion King,” “The Land Before Time,” “Hellraiser,” “S.W.A.T.” and “Wrong Turn” franchises all have in common? They all started out with big-budget theatrical originals and over time, the sequels bypassed theaters altogether and went straight to video, utilizing lesser-known stars and smaller budgets. But the studios realized that even though the follow-ups weren’t as big or as star-studded as the originals, they still had a built-in audience so they continued producing them. There are many more franchises out there but the list I mentioned above is just a small percentage of them. The “Sniper” series is another one you could add to that list, it all started back in 1993 with the first film in the series, simply titled “Sniper,” and starred Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. It opened to big numbers and over the following years, the expected sequels followed but went straight to video. This new addition to the series, “Sniper: Ultimate Kill,” is the first time that all three snipers, Tom Berenger, Billy Zane, and Chad Michael Collins, who all played the titular character throughout seven various films, all appear together. Although there is some star power between the three, it does not make the movie any better.
When a Colombian drug kingpin named Jesús Morales hires a hitman known as “The Devil” to eliminate all of his adversaries, he becomes so powerful that he begins to take over all of the drug smuggling routes into the United States. The DEA get wind of this and send an elite team down to Colombia to take care of the problem, including Marine sniper Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins), and along with the assistance of local agent Kate Estrada (Danay Garcia), who has been following Morales for many years, they are ambushed and most of their team is killed. With only Brandon and Kate left alive, they fall off the radar in order to track down Morales but with The Devil hot on their trails, and Morales’ men anticipating their every move, it becomes clear that there is a mole within the organization. On top of that, Brandon discovers that his nemesis is using a brand new type of bullet, one that is capable of recalibrating mid-air to avoid striking inanimate objects, and then readjusting to hit its intended target. With time running out, he contacts the only man he can trust, his father, Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger), the original sniper.
The movie fails to deliver on pretty much every aspect it covers, the story, action, fighting, and explosions are all very conventional and even when Berenger and Billy Zane appear onscreen, although the movie is elevated ever so slightly, it never rises above mediocrity. There is nothing original about “Sniper: Ultimate Kill,” and while for the most part, in an action film, that can be overlooked, here, its lack of imagination and by-the-numbers narrative, causes it to fizzle. Chad Michael Collins is, at least, charismatic, and plays his part well, as he has done in the past three iterations, but sadly, it is not enough to save the film.
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