Bullet Points: Sniper: Rogue Mission

I must admit I have not kept up with all the various sequels to 1993’s Sniper over the years. With that said I am still confident in saying that Sniper: Rogue Mission was much different than all the movies that preceded it in the franchise. Sniper: Rogue Mission will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on August 16th!

• From Hero to Zero: The movie begins on a London rooftop. Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins, High Moon) is doing some surveillance work as a favor to his boy Zero (Ryan Robbins reprising his role from Sniper: Assassin’s End)… Zero believes there is something not quite right about border patrol chief Harvey Cusamano (Paul Essiembre, Nobody). Harvey is in London set to meet with suspected sex trafficker, Laura Lake. There is definitely enough evidence against Lake to justify arresting her… but instead Harvey lets her go!?!? Brandon then makes a “citizens” arrest, since his CIA job in London really doesn’t give him the authority to arrest people and this ends up getting Brandon Beckett in some hot water with Brandon’s boss, Gabriel Stone (Dennis Haysbert who had previously been in Sniper: Ghost Shooter). The arrest doesn’t stick and Stone is forced to fire Brandon even if he believes that Zero and Brandon are probably right on the money and Harvey Cusamano is crooked.

• From London to Utica: Meanwhile in Utica, New York… Zero is about to do a raid on a compound running a “cam girl” operation, using the women that were transported to the United States in a shipping container by Laura Lake’s team (seemingly with the blessing of Harvey Cusamano). But the bad guys in charge of the “cam girl” compound are tipped off and they breakdown all the tech equipment and straight up shoot all the women working there. It is almost a total massacre, I say almost because one of the girls, Mary Jane (Jocelyn Hudon), is helped to escape by Simon, one of the bad guys who has a crush on her.
• From the Frying Pan to the Fire: Mary Jane may have survived the initial massacre but she will soon find herself on the run after she is nearly taken out at the police station. Fortunately for her, Zero showed up looking to question her. But unfortunately for Zero he met some resistance from the desk sergeant since the spiteful Harvey Cusamano ERASED Zero’s existence from the Homeland Security database! With an evil sniper’s bullets flying their way, Mary Jane has to make the decision to trust Zero. Zero and Mary Jane are now on the run and in need of some help and the first person Zero calls is the guy he just helped get fired… Brandon Beckett. I think we are about to go rogue!

• From Action Thriller to Action Comedy: At this point the movie really gets two distinct tones as for the first time in the history of the Sniper franchise the movie went from action thriller to action comedy. For me it was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise, for Sniper purists you will probably hate this evolution. It seriously felt like I was watching an episode of Psych at times… then someone would meet a graphically violent demise and I would snap back into “action movie reality”.
• From Two to Three: Brandon and Zero can no longer count on their government contacts to help them keep Mary Jane safe and take down the sex trafficking ring, so they have to think outside the box and get the assist from Lady Death herself (Sayaka Akimoto reprising her scene stealing role from Sniper: Assassin’s End). Lady Death and Brandon Beckett have an interesting first encounter in an alley that is broken up by Zero, but it is actually Mary Jane that is able to get everyone on the same page. The former Yakuza assassin, Lady Death gives them a place to hold up and she also knows a tech guy, Intelligence Pete (Josh Brener), who proves his worth on numerous occasions, first and foremost helping Mary Jane reach out to Simon in hopes of getting him to turn full good guy.

I really enjoyed the direction that Sniper: Rogue Mission took… maybe it helped that I have not seen every single movie that came before it, but I was entertained and left wanting more. Sniper: Rogue Mission packs in plenty of pure action and the comedic elements added to the presentation and did not take away from it. Chad Michael Collins as Brandon Beckett may very well be the ultimate good guy that you can’t help but root for. Collins worked really well with Ryan Robbins’ Zero and when you throw in the wild card that is Sayaka Akimoto’s Lady Death and you have a trio of heroes that is not going to look the other way

I would like you to look below to read some Bonus Bullet Points…

• If You Ever: …wanted to hear Chad Michael Collins get complimented on his vest from an outwear enthusiast, then Sniper: Rogue Mission is the movie for you.
• First Ever: This was the first movie in the franchise that does not star either of the stars from the 1993 original, Tom Berenger or Billy Zane.
• Sunkist or Fanta?: I am going Sunkist all day long.
• This Ain’t Over: There is a tease for at least one more movie coming and I will be honest with you, I am pretty pumped for it. Considering Sniper: Rogue Mission was the ninth in the series, it makes sense to at least make it an even 10. We have officially entered Friday the 13th territory!